Practice JLPTHow to tell them apart
に marks a target or point something goes to or happens at, while で marks the setting where an action unfolds. The test is whether the place is a destination or a spot of activity: 学校に行く takes に because school is the goal, but 学校で勉強する takes で because studying is what happens there. Swapping them sounds odd, since でに行く implies acting at a destination rather than heading to it.
- に Use に when naming a destination, direction, or specific time an event occurs.
- で Use で when naming the place where an action happens or the means used.
に ni
Location/Time/Direction
A particle that indicates a point of time at which something takes place.
-
今朝は五時半にうちを出ました。
This morning I left home at five thirty.
-
子供が学校に行っている間に手紙を書いた。
I wrote a letter while my children were away at school.
で de
Location of Action/Means
A particle which indicates location, except for location of existence.
-
ゆり子はデパートで働いています。
Yuriko is working at a department store.
-
オーストラリアでは十二月は夏だ。
In Australia it is summer in December.
に and で are both JLPT N5 grammar points that Japanese learners often mix up. This page compares them side by side — meanings, usage and example sentences — so you can tell them apart.