Prepositions + de or ni

Hi. I learn Japanese by myself and I just began on prepositions (excluding particles like ni, de, ec). I am learning how to use mae, shita, naka, soto... and I found out that the particles succeeding the prepositions are usually ni or de. My problem is that I do not know when to use ni or de.

Eg 1: kodomotachi wa soto de asonde iru. The kids are playing outside.
(Why canft I use soto ni instead?)

Eg 2: Jitensha wa ie no mae ni oite kudasai. Please park your bicycle outside the house.
(Why canft I use mae de instead?)

[By the way, I took these examples from http://www.timwerx.net/language/prepositions.htm ]

Anyonefs enlightenment is greatly appreciated.

As I mentioned in the other thread, "ni" indicates a direction of movement/action. "De" is where your action occurs.

- Jitensha wo ie no mae de tometa. (I stopped my bicycle in front of the house.) = "ie no mae" is talking about where your action of "stopping the bike" happened.

- Jitensha wo ie no mae ni oita. (I placed/parked my bicycle in front of the house. = "ie no mae" is where you brought and placed your bicycle TO.... see, here's the sense of direction in this sentence :)

Thank you, and sry for asking such elementary questions...

By the way, in the same webpage, it is mentioned that soba, yoko and tonari mean next to. I'd like to know if there's any difference between them, or that I should use which in which context. Any explanation is greatly appreciated. :)

tonari = next to/on the side of
yoko = on the other side of

i do not know what soba is yet (i am also learning japanese now)

(Reffering to the second last post)

Okay. I see where my problems lie now. At the basics, apparently. Particles.
In your first example, why canft I use ni?
After all, I have to go TO the house before stopping there, kinda like the second example. I have a weird feeling that Ifm wrong, though. Aarrghh. Ifm getting confused. When ni is used in this context, is it interchangeable with e? Erm, let me have a go at it:

Boku-tachi wa JON-san o kono machi no naka de sagasu. (We will look for John in the centre of this city)

Boku-tachi wa JON-san o koko kara kono machi no naka made ni sagasu (We will look for John from here until the centre of the city)

Actually, I find it hard to digest this info. Can you give me another two or three examples?

Finally, just to clarify something. A verb takes either ni or de. Or can it take both depends on the context?

Again, you have my deepest gratitude.

(Place) de and (place) ni:

- Kodomo-tachi wa koen NI itte, ima, koen DE asonde iru.
(The kids went to the park and now are playing in the park.)

- Watashi wa mainichi toshokan NI itte, soko DE yon wo yomu no ga suki da. (I like going to the library everyday and reading books there.)

- Nodo ga kawaita node, kissaten NI haitta. (Since i got thirsty, I went into a coffeeshop.)

You will get a feel for those particles (there isn't really one-to-one correlatio with English - it's more about understanding the underlying concept), no need to get confused :)

zyzzyva

I totally understand how you feel. I had the same feeling of confusion too when I had begun learning japanese. Unfortunately, at times, I was a bit too greedy, I really wanted to know everything.

The fact of the matter is, after a while I started to understand that learning a language really takes time, and that sometimes, you won't understand something completely unless you give it some time.

That really is all the advice I can give you. Do be curious and do ask questions, but keep in mind that you've just begun learning japanese, and that process just takes time. Just don't ask too many questions, or you'll get way too confused and end up understanding less than when you started.

Ah. Now the examples are clearer now. I think I kinda grasp the idea already. For ni to be used, there has to be a TO direction only. [If it is a from direction (like nigeru), I use kara, right?] It doesnft matter whether there is any movement or not. The verb must be directed towards something/someone. Hmm. Let me have a few tries.

Fuyu ni watashi wa obaasan no ie ni itte, ano nohara de yuki wo asobu ne
(During winter, I am going to my grandmotherfs house and play with snow on the field.)

Minna-san gakkou de sensei-gata ni kitte kudasai.
(Please listen to the teachers in school)

Hmm. But I encountered a disquieting example from http://www.all-about-teaching-english-in-japan.com/Japaneseg... :

Kono jisho ni kakimasu.
(I write in this dictionary.)

So, in this case I should interpret it as I write eintof this dictionary, is it?

Anyway, thanks a lot guys.

I think you got the idea about "ni" and "de" when it comes to places :) Just some minor corrections on your sentences:

During winter, I am going to my grandmotherfs house and play with snow on the field.

- Fuyu ni watashi wa obaasan no ie ni itte, ano nohara de yuki de asobu.

If you want to say "play WITH snow," it should be"yuki de." Another meaning of "de" (not talking about places now) is "by way of," "with (in the sense of "using (something)"), etc.

Please listen (carefully) to the teachers in school
Mina-san, gakkou de sensei-gata no hanashi wo (yoku) kiite kudasai.

UNfortunately in Japanese, you cannot "listen to the teacher" (literally), but you have to listen to the "talks" (hanashi) of the teachers. Another thing to note is that for "kikimasu/kiku" (to listen to), the te-form is "kiite." "yoku kiku" = to listen to well/carefully

Kono jisho ni kakimasu.
Yes, this means "I write INTO the dictionary." A somewhat strange example, I must admit :)