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Particles help you build Japanese verb sentences by showing where an action happens, where someone goes, or how they travel. This lesson focuses on に and で. It does not change the conjugation of the verb itself.
で: where an action happens
Put で after the place where an action is performed. The verb describes what happens there.
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 私はレストランで食べました。 | Watashi wa resutoran de tabemashita. | I ate at the restaurant. |
| 今日は図書館で勉強します。 | Kyō wa toshokan de benkyō shimasu. | I will study at the library today. |
In these examples, レストラン and 図書館 are places; で marks them as the locations of eating and studying. It follows the place word, rather than preceding it.
に and で have different jobs
に can mark a destination with movement verbs such as 行きます (go), 来ます (come) and 帰ります (return). It also marks the location of existence with あります and います, so it is incorrect to say that に is only for movement.
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 学校に行きます。 | Gakkō ni ikimasu. | I go to school. |
| 学校にいます。 | Gakkō ni imasu. | I am at school. |
| 学校で勉強します。 | Gakkō de benkyō shimasu. | I study at school. |
Think about the relationship you need: a destination, a place of existence, or a place where an activity happens. Do not simply divide all verbs into “moving” and “not moving”. Other uses of に and で are possible, and some expressions depend on the particular verb.
で: means of transport
で can also mark the means used to do something. With transport, it often corresponds to English “by”.
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 飛行機で中国に行きます。 | Hikōki de Chūgoku ni ikimasu. | I will go to China by plane. |
| 中国に飛行機で行きます。 | Chūgoku ni hikōki de ikimasu. | I will go to China by plane. |
| 昨日、福岡に新幹線で行きました。 | Kinō, Fukuoka ni shinkansen de ikimashita. | I went to Fukuoka by bullet train yesterday. |
| 明日、タクシーで学校に行きます。 | Ashita, takushī de gakkō ni ikimasu. | I will go to school by taxi tomorrow. |
The destination and transport phrases can appear in either order in the first two examples, with their particles attached. This flexibility does not mean that any words can be rearranged arbitrarily. 通います (kayoimasu) commonly describes regularly attending or commuting to a place; 行きます is clearer for a single trip tomorrow.
Practice
Write one sentence about an activity at a place, using で. Then write a sentence about going somewhere, using に, and add your transport with で. Finally, describe where a person is with にいます. Check each particle against the meaning you want to express.
