The question that settles most cases
When a place noun comes up, ask one thing: is the place a point where something exists or arrives, or is it the stage on which an action is carried out? A point takes ni. A stage takes de. Existing, going, arriving, entering, sitting down and putting an object somewhere are all point sentences. Studying, eating, meeting, working, playing and buying are all stage sentences, because they describe something being done rather than something being located.
The reason English cannot guide you is that at covers both jobs. I am at the library and I study at the library use the same word in English and different particles in Japanese. Practise the two versions of the same place together, as a pair, and the choice becomes a reflex instead of a calculation. The general particle guide on this blog gives each particle one core job; this post is the deep version of the hardest pair.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 図書館にいます。 | Toshokan ni imasu. | I am at the library. |
| 図書館で勉強します。 | Toshokan de benkyō shimasu. | I study at the library. |
| 家にいます。 | Ie ni imasu. | I am at home. |
| 家で働きます。 | Ie de hatarakimasu. | I work at home. |
| 海に行きます。 | Umi ni ikimasu. | I am going to the sea. |
| 海で泳ぎます。 | Umi de oyogimasu. | I swim in the sea. |
Every use of ni, side by side
| Use of ni | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| Existence, a point where something is | 部屋に猫がいます Heya ni neko ga imasu | There is a cat in the room |
| Destination or arrival point | 東京に行きます Tōkyō ni ikimasu | I go to Tokyo |
| A specific time on the clock or calendar | 七時に起きます Shichi-ji ni okimasu | I get up at seven |
| Recipient of giving, telling or asking | 友達に電話します Tomodachi ni denwa shimasu | I call a friend |
| Source of receiving | 先生に本をもらいました Sensei ni hon o moraimashita | I received a book from the teacher |
| Purpose, using a verb stem | 買い物に行きます Kaimono ni ikimasu | I go shopping |
| Surface or container something goes onto | 机に置きます Tsukue ni okimasu | I put it on the desk |
| Result of a change | 先生になります Sensei ni narimasu | I will become a teacher |
| Frequency within a period | 一週間に三回 Isshūkan ni sankai | Three times a week |
| The agent in a passive sentence | 先生にほめられました Sensei ni homeraremashita | I was praised by the teacher |
The thread running through this list is contact with a point. A place you arrive at, a moment on the clock, a person who receives something, a surface an object lands on, and the state you end up in are all end points of an arrow. Even the passive fits: the agent is the point the action comes from and lands on you. Hold that image and you will guess correctly with verbs you have never met.
Every use of de, side by side
| Use of de | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| Place where an action happens | 教室で話します Kyōshitsu de hanashimasu | I talk in the classroom |
| Means of transport | 電車で行きます Densha de ikimasu | I go by train |
| Tool or instrument | はしで食べます Hashi de tabemasu | I eat with chopsticks |
| Language or medium | 日本語で話しましょう Nihongo de hanashimashō | Let us speak in Japanese |
| Material you can still see | 木で作ります Ki de tsukurimasu | It is made of wood |
| Cause or reason | 病気で休みました Byōki de yasumimashita | I was off sick |
| Scope of a comparison | 日本で一番高い山です Nihon de ichiban takai yama desu | It is the tallest mountain in Japan |
| Total price or quantity | 全部で三千円です Zenbu de sanzen-en desu | That is three thousand yen in total |
| Group size doing something | 四人で行きます Yonin de ikimasu | The four of us are going |
| Time or amount it takes | 一時間で終わります Ichi-jikan de owarimasu | It finishes within an hour |
De's thread is the circumstances that make an action possible: where it happens, what it is done with, what it is made from, what caused it, and inside what limits it is measured. That is why de attaches so often to verbs of doing and almost never to verbs of being. If your sentence has no action at all, de is unlikely to be the right choice.
Minimal pairs where only the particle changes
| With ni | With de | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| 家にいます Ie ni imasu | 家で働きます Ie de hatarakimasu | Being located versus doing something there |
| 公園に犬がいます Kōen ni inu ga imasu | 公園で犬と遊びます Kōen de inu to asobimasu | The dog's location versus your activity |
| 病院に行きます Byōin ni ikimasu | 病院で働きます Byōin de hatarakimasu | Going there versus working there |
| テーブルに置きます Tēburu ni okimasu | テーブルで食べます Tēburu de tabemasu | The surface reached versus the setting |
| 黒板に書きます Kokuban ni kakimasu | 教室で書きます Kyōshitsu de kakimasu | Writing onto it versus writing in that room |
| 日本に住んでいます Nihon ni sunde imasu | 日本で勉強しています Nihon de benkyō shite imasu | Residing versus carrying out an activity |
| 電車に乗ります Densha ni norimasu | 電車で行きます Densha de ikimasu | Boarding the train versus using it to travel |
| 友達に会います Tomodachi ni aimasu | カフェで会います Kafe de aimasu | The person met versus the place of meeting |
| 一時間に一本です Ichi-jikan ni ippon desu | 一時間で着きます Ichi-jikan de tsukimasu | Frequency per hour versus time taken |
Read each row aloud as a pair, not as two separate sentences. The value of a minimal pair is the moment of contrast, and that only happens if the two lines are next to each other in your mouth within a couple of seconds. The last row is worth extra attention, since both lines use the same time noun and only the particle tells you whether you are counting departures or measuring a journey.
Verbs that fix the particle for you
A shortcut for everyday speech: some verbs simply always take one particle, so you can learn the pair as a unit and stop deciding. Sumu, live or reside, takes ni even though English calls it living somewhere. Hataraku and tsutomeru split: hataraku takes de, while tsutomeru takes ni, as in ginkō ni tsutomete imasu. Noru, to board, takes ni because you move onto the vehicle, and its opposite oriru takes o because you pass out through the exit, exactly like deru in ie o demasu.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大阪に住んでいます。 | Ōsaka ni sunde imasu. | I live in Osaka. |
| 日本の会社で働いています。 | Nihon no kaisha de hataraite imasu. | I work at a Japanese company. |
| 銀行に勤めています。 | Ginkō ni tsutomete imasu. | I am employed at a bank. |
| 次の駅で降ります。 | Tsugi no eki de orimasu. | I am getting off at the next station. |
| バスを降ります。 | Basu o orimasu. | I get off the bus. |
| 空港に着きました。 | Kūkō ni tsukimashita. | I have arrived at the airport. |
- 住む sumu, to live: Ōsaka ni sunde imasu, always ni.
- 働く hataraku, to work: kaisha de hataraite imasu, always de.
- 勤める tsutomeru, to be employed: ginkō ni tsutomete imasu, always ni.
- 行く iku and 来る kuru: gakkō ni ikimasu or gakkō e ikimasu, both natural.
- 着く tsuku, to arrive: kūkō ni tsukimasu, never de.
- 乗る noru, to board: basu ni norimasu; 降りる oriru, to get off: basu o orimasu.
- 入る hairu, to enter: heya ni hairimasu; 出る deru, to leave: heya o demasu.
- 座る suwaru, to sit down: isu ni suwarimasu, the seat is the point you land on.
- 会う au, to meet: tomodachi ni aimasu, and tomodachi to aimasu when it is mutual.
The fourth and fifth lines are the pair to notice. Oriru takes o for the vehicle you leave, but the station where you get off is the stage of the action, so it takes de: tsugi no eki de orimasu. Two particles, one verb, no contradiction.
Ni for time, and when to drop it
Time words split into two groups. A time you could point to on a clock or calendar takes ni: shichi-ji ni, getsuyōbi ni, san-gatsu ni, 2027-nen ni. A time defined relative to now takes no particle at all: kyō, ashita, kinō, raishū, maiasa, ima. Days of the week sit in between, and both getsuyōbi ni and bare getsuyōbi are heard. The safe habit is to use ni for numbers on a clock or calendar and nothing for words that move with today.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 七時に起きます。 | Shichi-ji ni okimasu. | I get up at seven. |
| 月曜日に会議があります。 | Getsuyōbi ni kaigi ga arimasu. | There is a meeting on Monday. |
| 三月に日本へ行きます。 | San-gatsu ni Nihon e ikimasu. | I am going to Japan in March. |
| 明日、行きます。 | Ashita, ikimasu. | I am going tomorrow. |
| 毎朝、六時に走ります。 | Maiasa, roku-ji ni hashirimasu. | I run at six every morning. |
| 一週間に三回、練習します。 | Isshūkan ni sankai, renshū shimasu. | I practise three times a week. |
The last line shows the frequency use, where ni divides a period into slots. Note the word order: the period, then ni, then the count. Learners often reverse it into sankai ni isshūkan, which does not work.
Ni for people: recipients, sources and the passive
Once a person appears in the sentence, ni is usually the particle that attaches to them. They are the point the action reaches: the person you call, tell, teach, give something to, or ask. The same ni marks the person a thing came from with morau and narau, and the agent in a passive sentence. De almost never attaches to a person, apart from the group-size use in futari de and yonin de.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 友達にプレゼントをあげました。 | Tomodachi ni purezento o agemashita. | I gave my friend a present. |
| 母に手紙を書きます。 | Haha ni tegami o kakimasu. | I write a letter to my mother. |
| 先生に質問してもいいですか？ | Sensei ni shitsumon shite mo ii desu ka? | May I ask the teacher a question? |
| 先輩に日本語を習いました。 | Senpai ni Nihongo o naraimashita. | I learned Japanese from a senior colleague. |
| 部長にほめられました。 | Buchō ni homeraremashita. | I was praised by the department manager. |
| 雨に降られました。 | Ame ni furaremashita. | I got caught in the rain. |
Homeraremashita is the passive of homeru, an ichidan verb: drop ru, add rareru, then make it polite as homeraremasu and past as homeraremashita. Furaremashita comes from furu, a godan verb, so the a-stem fura plus reru gives furareru. In both, the person or thing responsible takes ni.
De for means, material, cause and scope
The non-place uses of de are easier than the place use, because English marks them with different words: by, with, from, because of, in. Transport, tools, languages and payment methods all take de. So does the material when you can still recognise it in the finished object; when it has been transformed beyond recognition, kara is used instead, which is why a wooden chair is ki de and wine is budō kara.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 電車で来ました。 | Densha de kimashita. | I came by train. |
| カードで払えますか？ | Kādo de haraemasu ka? | Can I pay by card? |
| 日本語で説明してください。 | Nihongo de setsumei shite kudasai. | Please explain in Japanese. |
| この机は木で作られています。 | Kono tsukue wa ki de tsukurarete imasu. | This desk is made of wood. |
| ワインはぶどうから作られます。 | Wain wa budō kara tsukuraremasu. | Wine is made from grapes. |
| 風邪で会社を休みました。 | Kaze de kaisha o yasumimashita. | I took the day off work with a cold. |
| 事故で電車が遅れています。 | Jiko de densha ga okurete imasu. | The trains are delayed because of an accident. |
| クラスで一番早いです。 | Kurasu de ichiban hayai desu. | It is the fastest in the class. |
| 全部でいくらですか？ | Zenbu de ikura desu ka? | How much is it altogether? |
When both particles fit the same verb
A few verbs accept either particle with a genuine change of meaning, and these are the sentences worth slowing down for. Atsumaru, to gather, takes ni when the emphasis is the point everyone converges on and de when the emphasis is the venue of the gathering, so eki ni atsumarimashō and eki de atsumarimashō are both natural with slightly different feels. Kaku takes ni for the surface written on and de for the place you sit while writing. Tomeru, to park, takes ni for the spot the car ends up in.
There is one more overlap to be aware of. Ni can mark the place of an action when that action leaves something in position, as in nōto ni memo o torimasu, taking notes into the notebook. The test still holds: if the place ends up holding the result, it is a point and takes ni; if it merely hosts the activity, it is a stage and takes de.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 駅に集まりましょう。 | Eki ni atsumarimashō. | Let us gather at the station. |
| 駅で集まりましょう。 | Eki de atsumarimashō. | Let us meet up at the station. |
| ノートに書いてください。 | Nōto ni kaite kudasai. | Please write it in your notebook. |
| ここで書いてください。 | Koko de kaite kudasai. | Please write it here, at this spot. |
| 車を駐車場に止めました。 | Kuruma o chūshajō ni tomemashita. | I parked the car in the car park. |
Mistakes to stop making this week
- Ie de imasu for being at home: existence takes ni, so ie ni imasu.
- Tōkyō de sunde imasu: sumu is fixed to ni, so Tōkyō ni sunde imasu.
- Kaisha ni hataraite imasu: hataraku is an action, so kaisha de hataraite imasu.
- Densha ni ikimasu when you mean going by train: that is densha de ikimasu, since ni norimasu is boarding.
- Ashita ni ikimasu: relative time words take no particle, so ashita, ikimasu.
- Sankai ni isshūkan: the period comes first, isshūkan ni sankai.
- Using de before a person: recipients and agents take ni, apart from group counts such as futari de.
A five-minute drill that fixes the pair
- Pick five places you go weekly and say the ni sentence and the de sentence for each, back to back.
- Add a person to three of them and check that the person takes ni: tenin ni kikimasu.
- Say your commute twice, once with the vehicle boarded, densha ni norimasu, once with it as means, densha de ikimasu.
- Answer doko de and doko ni questions about your own day out loud, keeping the particle from the question in the answer.
- Write nothing down until the end, then check only the particles and rerun the ones you missed.
- Finish with two total-amount lines, zenbu de and ichi-jikan de, so the non-place uses of de stay active too.