Confusing particles : に, へ and で (ni, e and de)

Did your teacher ever correct when you confuse に and で?
A lot of my students find it confusing, and it’s one of the most common mistake.

But it is actually easy : )
First, let me introduce our particle family!

に ni-kun
likes to go somewhere.
So he is always with verbs that require “direction“.

When に is used as “to (where?/ whom)” .

To where?
E.g

行く iku
to go
日本 に 行く
nihon NI iku
(I) will go to Japan

来る kuru
to come
うち に 来る？
uchi NI kuru
Do you wanna come to my house?
(来る does not include the meaning of “want to”, but it’s the best translation.)

旅行する ryokou-suru
to travel
どっか に 旅行したい・・・
dokka* NI ryokou shitai…
I wanna travel (TO) somewhere…
*どっか dokka is the casual form of どこか dokoka = somewhere

帰る 　kaeru
to go home
もう うち に 帰らなきゃ
mou uchi NI kaeranakya
I gotta go (to) home already
TO whom?
E.g

あげる　ageru
to give
子供 に プレゼント を あげた。
kodomo NI purezento wo ageta
(I) gave a present to (my) child(ren).

言う　iu
to say
お母さんに「ありがとう」って言った。
okaasan NI “arigatou” tte itta.
(I) said “Thanks” to my mum.

（電話を）かける
(denwa wo) kakeru
to call
彼女に電話をかける。
kanojo NI denwa wo kakeru.
to call (to) my girlfriend .

書く　kaku
to write
おじいちゃん に 手紙 を　書く。
ojiichan NI tegami wo kaku.
to write  a letter to my grandpa.

He seems pretty active, huh?
But no…he usually stays at home and does nothing…
So he gets along pretty well with verbs like “staying, living, being (somewhere)“…
Verbs that express “where you ARE”. 

When  に is used as “at / in “
E.g

いる　iru
to be (somewhere) / there is ~ (only for living things)
机 の下  に ねこ が いる。
tsukue no shita NI neko ga iru.
There is a cat under the desk.
今どこにいるの？
ima doko NI iru no?
Where are you at now?

ある　aru
to be (somewhere) / there is ~ (only for things)
ここにあった！
koko NI atta!
It was (at) here! (I found it here.)

住む　sumu
to live (somewhere, not how you live)
イギリスに住んでる。
igirisu NI sunderu.
(I) live in the UK.

泊まる　tomaru
to stay (somewhere)
高いホテルに泊まる。
takai hoteru NI tomaru
I will stay in an expensive hotel.

立つ 　tatsu
to stand
あそこに立っている人は誰？
asoko NI tatteiru hito wa dare?
Who is the person standing (at) there?

座る　suwaru
to sit 
床に座る
yuka NI suwaru
to sit on the floor

There aren’t too many verbs that take に as “in / at” so
you can pretty much use で most of the time.
Just remember, verbs like “to live / stay / sit / stand / exist (aru / iru)” take the に particle.

By the way, に has cousins who are twins  called “へ he” and “へ e”.
(They complain how people get confused…
Please remember, へ He is always in a word. (e.g へや Heya – room)
へ E works as a particle, and usually is alone : (
But sometimes hangs out with other particles は “Wa”  and も “mo “. )
Anyways, へ E also has a meaning of “to (where?).
So you can interchangeably use へ instead of に, when it means “to”. (But not as “at /in”)
E.g
お店 に 行く。　omise NI iku
-> お店 へ 行く。 omise E iku.
Both means “to go to a store / shop”,
the only difference is that へ E sounds much much more formal.
But you can use に ni in both casual and normal-formal situations, though.

Now meet our で de-chan :)

She’s very active, likes to do things, and cannot stay quiet.

So で de is always with verbs of action.
Basically verbs that に ni doesn’t get along well with :)

When で de is used as “at /in “
E.g

食べる　taberu
to eat
レストラン で 食べる
resutoran DE taberu
to/will eat at the restaurant

見る　miru
to see / watch / look
映画 は、映画館 で 見る 方 が いい。
eiga wa, eiga kan DE miru hou ga ii.
It is better to see movies  in the cinema.

勉強する　benkyou suru
to study
日本人 は 学校 で 英語 を 勉強する。
nihonjin wa gakkou DE eigo wo benkyou suru.
Japanese people study English at school.

使う　tsukau
to use
飛行機 で は、ほとんど の 場合、ケータイ は 使えない。
hikouki DE wa, hotondo no baai, keetai wa tsukaenai.
On the airplane, most of the time, you cannot use your cellphone.

会う　au
to meet  (we count this as something to do :P)
喫茶店（カフェ）の 前 で 会おう。
kissaten (kafe) no mae DE aou.
Let’s meet in front of the cafe.

待つ　matsu
to wait (do not use に. This is something active…we think lol)
あそこ で 待って て
asoko DE mattete
Wait (at) there, please (coll.)

Also she’s even good at using things.
(that’s what she said. – これは昨日の女が言ってたことだ。）

When you use で de as the meaning of  “by using ~”
E.g

ペン で 書いて ください。
pen DE kaite kudasai.
Please write with (by using) a pen.

俺はチャリで学校に行く。
ore wa chari* DE gakkou ni iku.
I(masc.) go to school by (using) bike.
チャリ chari is a slangy way of saying 自転車 jintensya = bicycle.

日本語 で 日記 を 書いて みる。
nihongo DE nikki wo kaite miru
(I) will try to write a diary in (by using) Japanese.

はし で すし を たべる。
(I) eat sushi with (by using) chopsticks.

最後に、「に」と「で」について気を付けること！
One last thing you should pay attention to!

In English, you do not say “at here / there/ somewhere / where“.
But we do in Japanese.

ここ koko here ,  （あ）そこ (a)soko there,
どこか/どっか dokoka / dokka somewhere,
どこ doko where
Depends on the verb, you put に or で.

To where? (destination): Use に or へ
ここに来る。 koko NI kuru.
(someone) comes (to) here.
どっかにある？ dokka NI aru?
Is it (do you have it) (at) somewhere?
どこに引っ越すの？ doko NI hikkosu no?
Where will you move to?

At / in where? + verbs
like “to stay, to live” (being somewhere)
:Use に
そこに紙があるよ。 soko NI kami ga aru yo.
There are papers (at) there (near you).
どこにすわろっか？ doko NI suwaro kka
Where shall we sit down (at)?　(coll.)

At / in where? + active verbs
like “to eat, make”
(but also including verbs like “to wait, meet”
: Use で
そこで何をしてるの？ soko DE nani wo shiteru no?
What are you doing (at) there?
どっかでケーキ買えるかな？ dokka DE keeki kaeru kana?
We can buy cakes (at) somewhere? (maybe? / you reckon?)

After all I said though, in an informal speech, Japanese people often omit particle に…
So for example,
どっかに行こう dokka NI ikou – would be
->どっか 行こう dokka ikou. Without に.
今どこにいる？ ima doko NI iru – would be
->今どこいる？ ima doko iru
Well, you will get used to it :D
There are actually more usages of に and で, but they are the most commonly used ones.

Summary ★

に particle : Use for showing “direction” as “TO <somewhere> / <someone>”.

Means “at / in” with verbs that focus on “where you are” (e.g to live / stay / stand …)

Used for time related words.
AT <time> o’clock = ～時に  ~ji ni
(e.g  四時に yo-ji ni = AT 4 o’clock)
With days of the week  (e.g 月曜日に getsu-youbi-NI = ON Monday)
ON <special day>
(e.g クリスマスに = On Christmas)

—

で particle : As “at / in / on” with verbs of actions. (e.g to eat / to sleep / to talk / to play…i.e most verbs!)

Used as “BY USING ~” (e.g  with chopsticks , by car , with a pen , on skype…)

I will write about more about these, if I get more requests.

Thank you for reading this, and I hope it helped!
Please leave your comments and love to support Misa xx
またね(/・ω・)/