ni / de

Can someone explain the exact difference between Tokyo de and Tokyo ni in the context to be in Tokyo. Domo arigato!

Konnichiwa ! "ni" is the particle used for direction. You always use it to refer to the destination of something (e.g. Tokyo ni ikimasu - I go/am going to Tokyo - my destination is Tokyo). "de" is the particle used to refer to a certain place. For example, if you want to say: In Tokyo, everyone likes to watch anime, it would be: Tokyo de minna wa anime o mite suki na-n desu. In this contex, it is not really appropriate to use "ni" because we don't have a destination, we just refer to the place where the something is happening. to make it simpler, you can replace it with "there"(in English), meaning the place you put "de" after :). Hope this helps

Actually コッド、 It is appropriate to use "ni". Yes, "ni" indicates destination while "de" indicates manner or means, as well as location, but it should be noted that ni and de can indicate location in different contexts: Ni: Indicates long-term location. For example Yamada-san wa ginko ni tsutomete imasu: Yamada san works in (a) bank. This is implied as being long term, because of the nature of the job. or: Boku wa, Igirisu ni sunde imasu : I live in England. Again, this is implied as a long term action. De: Indicates a brief or temporary location: Eg. Kinou, Tokyo no resutoran de, bangohan wo tabemashita. Yesterday I ate dinner in a restaurant in Tokyo This is suggested to be short term, as I wasn't easting dinner there for more that an hour, probably. Or: Tosho-kan de, hon wo yonde imasu: (I'm) reading a book in the library. Again, this is a short term action. Oh and I think there's something grammatically wrong with you're example you used for "de". What's the construction"na~n desu"? Doesn't "na" indicate "-na" adjectives when preceeding the noun they qualify? Anyway, hope this helps. :)

So @Luc Vileyn, If you hear Tokyo de, it means that the speaker was only there briefly, while if you hear Tokyo ni, it implies that the speaker was there for a substatial amount of time.

Pascal-san, arigato. It seems I learned some things wrongly, my bad. With the na-n part, even I don't know exactly why I wrote that...I must've been in a hurry or something. Sorry if this caused some confusion :)

certainly it helps. BTW, Omise wa oite imasu. What is the infinitive of this verb? I guess that omise wa shimatte imasu the verb is from shimaru (to be closed)? Still looking for some good Japanese books for complementing RJ here.

It would help if you could give the kanji for oite, since many different verbs have this -te form. However, I think it is from oku, to leave, as in I am leaving the shop. And yes, the verb is shimaru, which can both mean to be closed and to close, so the sentence means The shop is closed. Hope this helps. @コッド　It's okay. Just glad I could help :)

ところで、日本では、その富木島の事とその地震とその津波が怖いね？

yes, really scary. I do very much appreciate your help, but for the questions I put here I have no text at all, only tapes... I'm still a beginner of Japanese, but I can perfectly read a few 1000 Chinese characters. Did not study katakana yet. I have planned a solo trip to Japan for november this year, but a fear the near future of this fascinating place.

Hi Luc - Did you mean to write... Omise wa AITE imasu. "The shop is open" - AITE comes from the verb AKU "to open" Omise wa shimatte imasu. "The shop is closed" - SHIMATTE comes from SHIMARU "to close"