Sunday, April 3, 2011

Are "de"and "ni" similar particles, or does one have a more significant meaning than the other?

Question:


im on rosetta stone, and first i was encountered with "ni" the place marker, then iwas encountered with de, and assuming its doing the same thing.

do these mean the same:

1. watashi ha gakkou ni hataraiteimasu.
2. watashi ha gakkou de hataraiteimasu.

Answer:


It depends on the verb used, whether it is transitive or intransitive. There's no logical way around this kind of things so I'll recommend that you memorize them.

For hataraku (働く), the place of work is indicated by the particle で.

You can use に to indicate places as well, but the verb will be different.

に and で can be said to be "in" and "at" in English respectively, but it also depends on the context of the sentence.

I'll give some examples.

私は学校で働いています。
わたしは がっこうで はたらいています。

私は学校に勤めています。
わたしは がっこうに つとめています。

See the two above examples? Both sentences mean the same thing. However, the particle is different.

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