で

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See also: て, ح, ج, خ, and Շ

で U+3067, で
HIRAGANA LETTER DE
Composition:て [U+3066] + ◌゙ [U+3099]
← て
 		Hiragana と →

Japanese

Stroke order
3 strokes

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

The hiragana character て (te) with a dakuten (゛).

Syllable

で • (de) 

  1. The hiragana syllable で (de). Its equivalent in katakana is デ (de).
See also

Etymology 2

Originally a contraction of にて (nite), later treated as a conjugation of the copula だ (da).

Particle

で • (de) 

  1. at: indicating a location at which something happens
    ここで休(やす)みたい。
    Koko de yasumitai.
    I want to rest in here (at this location).
  2. with, by, using: indicating the means by or with which something happens
    筆(ふで)ペンで書(か)く
    fudepen de kaku
    to write with a brush pen
    自(じ)転(てん)車(しゃ)で行(い)きましょう。
    Jitensha de ikimashō.
    Let's go by bicycle.
  3. (Can we verify(+) this sense?) in: indicating the containing by something
    白(しろ)水(みず)着(ぎ)で泳(およ)いでみた
    Shiromizugi de oyoidemita
    I tried to swim in white swimsuit
Alternative forms
  • (formal) にて (nite)
  • (informal, playful) de (de)

Adverb

で • (de) 

  1. (informal) indicating the following sentence is a consequence of something previously stated: and then; therefore
    で？
    De?
    So what?
    で？どうする？
    De? Dō suru?
    Well? What will you do?
    で、オリンピックやめませんか？
    De, Orinpikku yamemasen ka?
    Then, should we just give up the Olympic Games?

Verb

で • (de) 

  1. is/am/are ... and: the て-form or conjunctive form of だ (da)
    これは本(ほん)で、とても面(おも)白(しろ)いです。
    Kore wa hon de, totemo omoshiroi desu.
    This is a book, and it is very interesting.

See also

Japanese basic inflections
Verbs -i adjectives nouns and -na adjectives
Nonpast Plain Affirmative Use the dictionary form stem + い (-i) noun + だ (da)
(noun + である (de aru))
Negative mizenkei + ない (-nai) stem + くない (-ku nai) noun + で（は）ない (de nai)
Polite Affirmative ren'yōkei + ます (-masu) stem + いです (-i desu) noun + です (desu)
Negative ren'yōkei + ません (-masen) stem + くないです (-ku nai desu)
stem + くありません (-ku arimasen)		 noun + で（は）ないです (de nai desu)
noun + で（は）ありません (de arimasen)
Past Plain Affirmative ren'yōkei (with onbin sound changes for Group I verbs) + た (-ta) stem + かった (-katta) noun + だった (datta)
(noun + であった (de atta))
Negative mizenkei + なかった (-nakatta) stem + くなかった (-ku nakatta) noun + で（は）なかった (de nakatta)
Polite Affirmative ren'yōkei + ました (-mashita) stem + かったです (-katta desu) noun + でした (deshita)
Negative ren'yōkei + ませんでした (-masen deshita) stem + くなかったです (-ku nakatta desu)
stem + くありませんでした (-ku arimasen deshita)		 noun + で（は）なかったです (de nakatta desu)
noun + で（は）ありませんでした (de arimasen deshita)
Volitional Plain mizenkei (of Group I verbs) + う (-u > -o)
mizenkei (of other verbs) + よう (-yō)		 †stem + かろう (-karō)
(stem + いだろう (-i darō))		 noun + だろう (darō)
(noun + であろう (de arō))
Polite ren'yōkei + ましょう (-mashō) (stem + いでしょう (-i deshō)) noun + でしょう (deshō)
Conjunctive ren'yōkei (with onbin sound changes for Group I verbs) + て (-te) stem + くて (-kute) noun + で (de)
(noun + であって (de atte))
Hypothetical conditional kateikei + ば (-ba) stem + ければ (-kereba) (noun + であれば (de areba))

Etymology 3

Considered to be a contraction of にて (nite), where the ni is the continuative form of the negative auxiliary ず (zu). In use since Early Middle Japanese,[1] and first attested in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter of the late 800s.[2]

Suffix

で • (-de) 

  1. (Classical Japanese, archaic) Attaches to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of verbs to form the negative conjunctive, equivalent to the modern ないで (-naide) or ずに (-zuni).

Etymology 4

Corrupted from ぜ (ze, sentence-ending particle signifying emphasis).

Particle

で • (de) 

  1. (dialectal, chiefly Kansai) sentence-ending particle signifying emphasis
    そないな事(こと)したらあかんで。
    Sonai na koto shitara akan de.
    You shouldn't do things like that.

References

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ “で”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
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