Structure
Noun + で
Details
Part of Speech
Particle
Word Type
Case Marking Particle
Register
Standard
About で
で is a particle that has several different uses in Japanese. At its core, it is always used to highlight something that is 'required' to perform some sort of action/reach some kind of goal. One of these uses relates to 'things'. This comes across as 'by' or 'with' in English.
In these sentences, the item is considered essential for the action to be performed. While other items may be used, で simply highlights the one that was chosen.
で is also used when groups of people perform actions together, this is something that many people learning Japanese have trouble with initially (because と may also be used as 'with' for people). However, the use of で is actually the same as this by/with, meaning that the speaker considers the group as the tool used for performing the action.
The difference between と and で as 'with', is that で is used when everyone in the group has the same objective/end goal. と is used when each person is performing the action toward each other, not toward an external objective.
Synonyms
Examples
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バスで行く。
I go by bus.
バスで学校に行く。
I go to school by bus.
自転車でいいです。
By bicycle is good.
自転車で。
By bicycle.
電車で来ますか。
Are you coming by train?
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Online
The particle 「で」
PuniPuni
The contextual 「で」 particle
Tae Kim
Offline
Genki I
Page 198
Genki I 2nd Edition
Page 236
みんなの日本語 I
Page 38 [CH 5]
[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Page 106
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 58
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で – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (4 in total)
mrnoone
Hey!
You are absolutely right! The examples are kind of monothematic.
I will fix it!
Thank you very much for the feedback.Bambamlindsay
Hate to say this, but you haven’t fixed it yet
Pushindawood
@Bambamlindsay Welcome to the community! It did take us a little while, but we actually added a whole new grammar page to cover the other uses of て/で when it is used to express “by means of” or “in the manner of.” Cheers!
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