Page 123 - Basic Japanese

学校にいます。

Gakkō ni imasu.

I’m at school.

The difference in usage between ni and de depends on

whether you use a verb that means something about existence
—‘exists, lives, stays’—or something about activity—‘talks,

works, studies, eats, sleeps.’ There are very few verbs of the
inactive sort; you have had imasu ‘stays, (a person) exists (in a
place),’ arimasu ‘exists,’ and sunde imasu ‘is living, residing.’ With

other verbs you will usually hear de for ‘at,’ but occasionally a
Japanese person will use ni if his attention is focused on the

person’s existence rather than his action. In general, you will be
doing best to remember that ‘at’ corresponds to ni with the

verbs imasu, arimasu, and sunde imasu (also tomarimasu ‘stops or
stays at’); with other verbs—alone or in a phrase with imasu, like

hataraite imasu—‘at’ corresponds to de.

「夏休みには何をします 「レストランでバイトをし
か。」 ます。」

“Natsuyasumi ni wa nani o “Resutoran de baito o
shimasu ka.” shimasu.”
“What will you do during “I’ll work part-time at a

summer vacation?” restaurant.”

叔母が先週からうちに泊まっています。うちで母の手伝
いをしてくれています。

Oba ga senshū kara uchi ni tomatte imasu. Uchi de haha no
tetsudai o shite kurete imasu.
My aunt has been staying at our house since last

week. She is helping my mother.

まだ東京に住んでいるんですか。大阪で働きませんか。