Differences Between Location Particles に (ni) and で (de) in Japanese

This post explains when and how to use Japanese particles に (ni) and で (de) correctly.

Basic Usages

Usually, the に (ni) particle indicates a direction of action, as in “学校に行く” means “go to school” and “彼にペンをあげる” means “give a pen to him”. In this case, に is similar to the preposition “to” in English. On the other hand, “で” usually indicates a location, as in “公園でサッカーする” means “play soccer at a park” and “日本で働く” means “work in Japan”. In this case, で is similar to the prepositions “in/on/at” in English.

(Vocab) 学校（がっこう）school; 彼 (かれ) he/him; 公園（こうえん）park;  働（はたら）く work

Quiz

Now you can try to choose a correct particle from に or で in each sentence below.

1. インターネット {に, で} ホテルを探す
search for hotels on the internet

2. ボールを彼 {に, で} 投げる
throw a ball to him

3. カフェ {に, で}コーヒーを飲む
drink coffee at a cafe

4. コーヒー {に, で} ミルクを足す
add milk to coffee

Answers

1. The answer is インターネットでホテルを探す, as it indicates the location where you search for hotels.

2. The answer is ボールを彼に投げる, as it indicates the direction you throw a ball at.

3. The answer is カフェでコーヒーを飲む, as it indicates the location you drink coffee.

4. The answer is コーヒーにミルクを足す, as it indicates the direction you add milk to.

Advanced Usages

So far, everything should sound very clear, but you might be confused when you see the following sentences:

• 日本に住む (live in Japan)
• ホテルに泊まる (stay in a hotel)
• 学校にいる (be at school)

In these sentences, に is used to indicate the location, not the direction. Besides, what’s more complicated is that you cannot use で instead of に in these sentences. From now on, let’s learn how to use に and で particles correctly as location particles!

Basic Rules

The table below describes the essential rules about when and how to use に and で to describe a location!

「で」：location of an action	「に」：location of an existence
describe the location where an action/event takes place (e.g.) 日本で働く (work in Japan) 学校で勉強する (study at school) ホテルで寝る (sleep in a hotel) 東京で地震が起きた (An earthquake occurred in Tokyo)	describe the location where someone/something exists (e.g.) 日本に住む (live in Japan) 学校にいる (be at school) ホテルに泊まる (stay in a hotel) 机の下に本がある (There is a book under the table)

As the table shows, で is used when you describe the location where an action or event takes place. Therefore, when you describe where someone does something (e.g., work, study, sleep) or where something occurs, you should use で. On the other hand, に is used when you describe the location where someone or something exists. Therefore, you use に to indicate where you are, live, or stay, for instance.

Because of these differences, we expect different contents to follow based on which particle is used. For instance, when you say “日本で…”, we expect that you will talk about what you do in Japan, such as “働いている” (I’m working in Japan) and ”桜を見た” (I saw cherry blossoms). On the other hand, when you say “日本に…”, we expect that someone/something exists in Japan, such as “友達がいる” (Some of my friends are in Japan) and 住みたい (I want to live in Japan); or we expect that someone does something to Japan, such as “行った” (I went to Japan) and “荷物を送った” (I sent parcels to Japan).

(Remember that に can also describe a direction.)

Confusing Cases

In some cases, both に and で seem grammatically acceptable, but their nuances and/or meanings will be different depending on which particle to use. For instance, both “ここに書く” and “ここで書く”  are grammatically correct and mean “write something here”: the former means writing down something in a certain area (of a document/paper), whereas the latter means writing something in a certain physical space (e.g., a room). In other words, in the former sentence, に describes the direction which you write down something to, and in the latter, で denotes the location which you write something at.

Quiz

1. 駅 {に、で} いる ；

Vocab: 駅（えき）station

2. 家 {に、で} 帰る ；

Vocab: 家　(いえ) house, 帰（かえ）る go back

3. 家 {に、で} ゲームする

4. ロンドン {に、で} 向かう

Vocab: 向（む）かう head for

5. アメリカ {に、で} 両親がいる

Vocab:  両親（りょうしん）parents

6. 庭 {に、で} 花が咲（さ）いている

Vocab: 咲（さ）いている　in bloom

Answers

1. The answer is 駅にいる, as it describes where you are. (location of an existence).

2. The answer is 家に帰る, as it describes where you go. (direction).

3. The answer is 家でゲームする, as it describes where you play games (location of an action).

4. The answer is ロンドンに向かう, as it describes where you head for.  (direction)

5. The answer is アメリカに両親がいる, as it describes where your parents are. (location of an existence)

6. The answer is 庭に花が咲いている, as it describes where flowers are. (location of an existence)

* In fact, although less common, で is also acceptable in the last sentence, especially when you stress that the flower, as a living thing, is blooming rather than being in the state of blooming.

(e.g.)

庭で花がいきいきと咲いている

The flowers are blooming vividly in the garden.

Slides

Here is the slide version of this post.