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で details

で

で — where an action happens, and what it is done with

昨日きのう、公園こうえんでバーベキューしたんだ。

kinou, kouen de baabekyuu shita n da.

We had a barbecue in the park yesterday. casual

毎日まいにち、自転車じてんしゃで通かよっています。

mainichi, jitensha de kayotte imasu.

I commute by bicycle every day. neutral

Examples

where the action happens — で marks the site an event takes place at

昨日きのう、公園こうえんでバーベキューしたんだ。

kinou, kouen de baabekyuu shita n da.

We had a barbecue in the park yesterday. casual

いつも駅前えきまえの図書館としょかんで勉強べんきょうしています。

itsumo ekimae no toshokan de benkyou shite imasu.

I always study at the library in front of the station. neutral

means, tool, medium or material — what the action is done with, or what a thing is made of

毎日まいにち、自転車じてんしゃで通かよっています。

mainichi, jitensha de kayotte imasu.

I commute by bicycle every day. neutral

この箸はしは竹たけで作つくられています。

kono hashi wa take de tsukurarete imasu.

These chopsticks are made of bamboo. neutral

お手続てつづきはオンラインでも承うけたまわっております。

o tetsuzuki wa onrain de mo uketamawatte orimasu.

You can complete the paperwork online as well. formal

the amount it takes, or the group that does it — で closes off a span of time or a sum of money, and names how many people are acting

三人さんにんで行いこうよ。

sannin de ikou yo.

Let's go, the three of us. casual

この作業さぎょうは一日いちにちで終おわります。

kono sagyou wa ichinichi de owarimasu.

This job will be finished in a single day. neutral

この鞄かばんは千円せんえんで買かえました。

kono kaban wa sen'en de kaemashita.

I got this bag for a thousand yen. neutral

cause — で names the circumstance behind what happened, in a phrase rather than a clause

風邪かぜで会社かいしゃを休やすみました。

kaze de kaisha o yasumimashita.

I took the day off work with a cold. neutral

台風たいふうで電車でんしゃが止とまってる。

taifuu de densha ga tomatteru.

The trains are stopped because of the typhoon. casual

Formation

Notes

で needs an ACTION at the site, so ある and いる take に instead
(×教室きょうしつでいます). The exception is an event noun, which is itself
something that happens: 三階さんがいで会議かいぎがあります.

Related patterns

Similar

  • から

    で packs the cause into a single NOUN and presents it as a given circumstance (風邪かぜで休やすみました), while から asserts the link and needs a whole clause — which is why a reason only a proposition can carry takes から, 勉強べんきょうしたいから休やすみました having no noun で could hold.

  • に

    The verb picks, not the noun — に names where something IS or ends up (東京とうきょうに住すむ, 机つくえの上うえに置おく), で where an action is carried out (東京とうきょうで働はたらく), so the same 東京とうきょう takes either depending on what follows it.

  • を

    The same place noun before the same motion verb reads two ways — 公園こうえんを走はしる traces a route through the park, 公園こうえんで走はしる names it as the site the running happens at; を follows the path, で bounds the venue.

Lookalikes

  • て

    病気びょうきで splits two ways and only the continuation tells you which — the case で hands its noun to a verb as venue, tool or cause (病気びょうきで休やすんだ), the copular で is だ's て-form predicating it of the subject (彼かれは病気びょうきで、来こられません), and only that second one expands back to である.