Making Sense of Japanese Grammar

24. Two types of locational particles: -de and -ni

24 Two types of locational particles: -de and -ni The particle -de marks the domain (including, but not limited to, location) in which the totality of an event takes place or in which a condition holds true, as in the following: Chomusukii-sensei-no seminaa-wa yonkai-de arimasu. “Professor Chomsky’s seminar meets on the fourth floor.” Event Eberesuto-wa sekai-de ichiban takai yama-desu. “Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain in the world.” Condition On the other hand, the particle -ni is a placement particle. It marks the point where some object is located, or into which some object is placed, as in the following: Kuji-goro-ni daigaku-ni tsukimasu. “I arrive at the university around 9.” Goji-goro-made daigaku-ni imasu. “I stay at the university until around 5.” 53 Rokuji-goro-ni uchi-ni kaerimasu. “I return home around 6.” Kuruma-o hoteru-no chuushajoo-ni tomemashita. “I parked the car in the parking lot of the hotel.” Hon-o tsukue-no ue-ni okimashita. “I placed the book on the desk.” Purezento-o hako-no naka-ni iremashita. “I put the present in a box.” Since -ni is specifically for placement, the range of verbs which can appear with ni-marked noun phrases is rather limited. Some more examples are: Toshokan-ni ikimasu. “I go to the library.” Toshokan-ni tsukimasu. “I arrive at the library.” Toshokan-ni imasu. “I am at the library.” Toshokan-ni arimasu. “It is in the library.” On the other hand, -de marks the sphere of any event, and many verbs of action which you learn early on can be used with -de. Toshokan-de benkyoo-shimasu. 54 “We study in the library.” Toshokan-de konpyuutaa-o tsukaimasu. “We use a computer in the library.” Toshokan-de furui rekoodo-o kikimasu. “We listen to old records in the library.” Toshokan-de nemasu. “I sleep in the library.” In fact, the following is also possible because the totality of the event of going to the fourth floor takes place within the library, although the action of going has the fourth floor as the destination: Toshokan-de yonkai-ni ikimasu. “I go to the fourth floor in the library.” Event Note, also, that arimasu “to exist” does not necessarily occur with -ni. If the subject is an event such as a party, a class, or a meeting, it means “to take place,” and -de is used, as in the following: Konban tomodachi-no ie-de paatii-ga arimasu. “There is a party at a friend’s house tonight.” Party! ! ! 1988-nen-no Orinpikku-wa Kankoku-no Souru-de arimashita. “The 1988 Olympic Games took place in Seoul, South Korea.” 55 Checking your comprehension: Which particle should you use for the following? Kyoo-no rekishi-no kurasu-wa toshokan-no yonkai-( ) arimasu. “Today’s history class will be held on the fourth floor of the library.” Nihon-go-no kurasu-no kyooshitsu-wa toshokan-no ni-kai-( ) arimasu. “The classroom for the Japanese class is located on the second floor of the library.” Nihon-( ) doko-( ) ikimashita-ka. “Where did you go [while] in Japan?” For related topics, see also Units 15 and 60. 56 ...