A NOTE BEFORE WE BEGIN:

It is often tempting to try and find an equivalence with English whenever you are studying Japanese. However, there is no 1:1 ratio between the two languages. In fact, the sooner you forget about thinking in English when learning Japanese the better, because obviously Japanese people aren’t doing that. They think in Japanese and they speak in it. However, that does not mean you cannot use your knowledge of one language in order to understand another one, because all languages share fundamental similarities. Thus, I will use similar examples in English from time to time in order to help explain Japanese grammatical structures.

So, where to begin in a discussion of such an expansive scope as Japanese Grammar? For now, I think we should start with the fundamentals. I’m talking the basics of the basics.

That being the case, nothing gets more basic than です right?

It’s usually the very first thing that we learn in Japanese, so surely this grammar point is taught correctly, right?

Well let’s take a look:

In English, we indicate the state of existence with the verb “is/am/are/be”.

We are told that です corresponds to “is” or one of it’s conjugations, like in the following example.

私は 学生 です。

I Student am.

However, even though this is the first thing we are told, it is WRONG!

Why is it wrong? Because later we learn that です = で + ある。

That’s right, there are two parts to です.

It is actually ある that is the verb for existence, but we will look at ある later in this page, and in further detail in another post.

Instead, I want to investigate what purpose で serves if it has no equivalent in the English translation.

Let’s look at it logically, step-by-step:

THE で PARTICLE

で is an incredibly common particle. Think of it as one of the basic building blocks of the language along with は・に・を・と・へ . More complex grammatical structures are usually made up of combinations of these smaller building blocks, and thus, the sooner we come to grips with these particles, the sooner we can build upon them. In English there are equivalents to some but not all of these particles. There is no English particle that expresses を for example, in the same way that there is no Japanese equivalent for “A/the”.

There is danger in having an improper understanding of these building blocks. You can’t build very high on a wobbly foundation. Sooner or later it will all come toppling down! My theory as to why so many people give up on this language, and probably other languages, is that they start off with an unstable foundation. As they build higher and higher, they reach a point where they cannot go any further and the whole thing comes crashing down. At this point, they can either try to get a better understanding of the fundamentals and start again with a more solid foundation, or they give up (which I am certain is the far more common outcome).

Now, onto で. If there is no English equivalent for で in the「私は学生である」 example above, then what purpose does it serve?

Well, the typical definition given to で is that it is a “Location Particle”. That is, it is used to specify where an action is taking place, as shown by the following example.

私は 食堂 で 食べています。

I Cafeteria at eating

It is easy to see how the particle is being used in this way. It is used to exemplify HOW the word 食堂 relates to the sentence, and that is, as a location wherein the action is taking place.

So then, what is it doing in the sentence「私は学生である」?

Doesn’t ‘で’s usage as a “Location particle” render this sentence nonsensical?

“I am at University student?”

Already the attempt to relate English and Japanese with each other is becoming a bit of a fruitless endeavour. Japanese particles do not have English meanings, but that does not mean that their usages cannot be explained in English.

This is the problem that Japanese instructional textbooks often face, attempting to say that で = “at” here and “in” there and even “with” every once in a while. It is just too much to memorise and doesn’t give you the right sense of the word. Instead let’s try explain HOW to USE the particle in English.

What if we were to continue to think of it as a “location particle”. More specifically, why don’t we try to think of it as a particle that “hones in on the locale where the action is taking place”. If I was forced to give it a name, I would call it a “Contextual Particle”.

Let’s look at this sentence:

地球で、食堂で、みんなで、はしで、食べています。

It may look kind of silly, but it is grammatically correct and shows what I am talking about:

“On Earth, in the cafeteria, with everyone, using chopsticks, I am eating”

Every time で appears in that sentence it has a different English meaning.

However, they are in the same format.

“Noun で Noun で “Noun で Nounで Noun で Action”. (Yes there are five ‘で’s here, but that’s for the next post)

Wow, so, how come we think of them as having different usages each time? Well, the answer to that is because you are thinking in English!!!

食堂で shows the physical location wherein the action is taking place. So what about はしで? Is it possible to think of it in the same way? At my university, we were told here it is another use of the で particle that shows “method” not location. However, if we go against the current trend of the educational system and use our imagination, we see that it is no different. If we look at はしで, we can understand it not as “I ate with chopsticks”, but rather, a particle that hones in on where the action is taking place. That’s right, the action is localised to the chopsticks, because of course, that is where the action is taking place. If instead you wrote “手で食べています” it would mean that the action of “食べる” is occurring in your hands. Every other word is the same.

I have created a diagram of the example to help you better visualise the usage of で:

See how they can all be shown to be in some way related to a physical sense of where the action is taking place? So let’s now go back to the original question!

First, we will take a quick tangent to look at ある. I will dedicate more time to the verb later, but in the meantime, I simply want to take a rough look at what it is.

ある is not いる, even though they both mean “exist”.

We only have one word for it “am”.

“I am a human” – Describing the inanimate state of existence = ある

(You aren’t doing anything to be a human at the moment, you are existing and that is the form your existence is taking)

“I am running” – Describing the animate state of existence = いる

(You are doing something to be running, you are existing and that is the form your existence is taking)

See why it is problematic to think in English when learning Japanese!?!?!

FINALLY! We will look at what である means!

Funnily enough, I actually think there is a pretty accurate phrase in English which sounds a little like how Xである works. “Exist IN the form of X”

If I say 学生である, I am providing context as to a form IN which my existence resides, as I stated just above.

If I say 猫で（は）ない I am saying that I do not exist IN this form.

You are simply using で to label states/forms where it can be said you exist. That is why it is weird to say 私は家であります。 You are not saying “I am in the house” you would be saying “I exist in the form of a house”

CONCLUSION:

So, if we conceptualise the particle, we can imagine it in a way where we do not have to think of it in English, but as a visual concept. This works for all senses of で, including when it is used in what is annoyingly called “The て form” which I will deconstruct and throw away later. Just know that this method will help you understand the more complex usages of で.

So hopefully my first lesson has been of use and will kick-start some discussion. By all means feel free to disagree or point out inaccuracies. However, I implore you to use my ideas as a springboard for new understandings, not a punching bag to make yourself feel like a big boy. If you don’t like my method, that is fine. However, let’s hear a logical and well thought out explanation as to why. Remember, I took time to make this, please take time to respond.

Thank you for reading :)!