で

で is also used to indicate the means, tool, or method of an action — translated as "by/with": バスで行きます (go by bus), はしで食べます (eat with chopsticks), 日本語で話します (speak in Japanese).

This is the second meaning of で, separate from the location meaning. It's the same で, but 図書館で読みます is "read AT the library," while ペンで書きます is "write WITH a pen" — you tell them apart by whether the preceding noun is a place or a thing.

"Going on foot" is an exception: say 歩いて行きます, not 足で行きます.

Examples

• バスで会社(かいしゃ)へ行(い)きます。

  I go to the office by bus.

• 日本語(にほんご)で話(はな)してください。

  Please speak in Japanese.

• はしでご飯(はん)を食(た)べます。

  I eat rice with chopsticks.

Related patterns

• で