で

See also: て, ح, ج, خ, and Շ

で U+3067, で HIRAGANA LETTER DE Composition: て [U+3066] + ◌゙ [U+3099] ← て [U+3066] Hiragana と → [U+3068]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [de̞]

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

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, ら, り, る, れ, ろ, わゎ, ゐ, 𛄟 (𛄟), ゑ, を, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

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

Particle

で • (de) 

1. at, in:
   1. indicating a location or duration 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. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) indicating the carriage of 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 a white swimsuit

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.

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 [wa] 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 [wa] nai desu) noun + で（は）ありません (de [wa] 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 [wa] 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 [wa] nakatta desu) noun + で（は）ありませんでした (de [wa] 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

Assimilated form of て(te) (-te, conjunctive ending). The voicing occurs in the two following euphonic (onbin) environments

• After a nasal sound N: For godan verbs ending in -mu, -nu, or -bu, the historical converbial form -mite, -nite, and -bite underwent nasalization and assimilation (hatsuonbin) to become -nde (んで), e.g. 読む (yomu) + て (-te) → 読みて (yomite) → *yomte → 読んで (yonde)
• After a i originated from velar voiced sound: For godan verbs ending in -gu, the historical ending -gite lost the velar consonant g but retained the voicing on the suffix (i-onbin), e.g. 泳ぐ (oyogu) + て (-te) → 泳ぎて (oyogite) → oyoĩte → 泳いで (oyoide)

See also: て, Japanese conjugation § te form.

Suffix

で • (-de) 

1. (conjunctive) used after godan verbs ending in -gu, -bu, -mu, or -nu form of て

   泳ぐ (oyogu, “to swim”) + で (-de) → 泳いで (oyoide, “swimming”)

   遊ぶ (asobu, “to play”) + で (-de) → 遊んで (asonde, “playing”)

   読む (yomu, “to read”) + で (-de) → 読んで (yonde, “reading”)

   死ぬ (shinu, “to die”) + で (-de) → 死んで (shinde, “dying”)

Etymology 4

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, and first attested in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter of the late 800s.

Suffix

で • (-de) 

1. [from late 800s] (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 5

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.

Etymology 6

For pronunciation and definitions of で – see the following entry.

【出】1 [noun] the process of something coming out [noun] something that comes out [verb] imperfective and stem (or continuative) forms of 出る (deru) [ichidan]

(This term, で (de), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as で, see Category:Japanese kanji read as で.