4556
I rarely have any problems with the に and で particles, but I have been a bit
confused since seeing the word 揺れる in a few different sentences.

As far as I know it is ok to say either:

> 旗が風に揺れている

or

> 旗が風で揺れている

Where you could of course replace 旗 with another word like 木 or 電線.

My problem is that I can't tell the difference between these sentences.

To me, at the moment, they both mean **"~ is swaying in the wind"**. But there
must be some difference between these sentences that I am not seeing.

Can anybody tell me the difference in meaning when it comes to the に or で
particles with the word 揺れる?

Any help would be appreciated.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-04T04:25:09.290
4554
2018-06-27T19:09:36.333
2014-10-19T04:21:08.837
1035
question
particles particle-に particle-で に-and-で
揺れる with に or で
風に揺れる sounds a bit poetic and literary to me. If I'm writing an essay, novel
or poem, I'd write 風に揺れる. I think we usually say 風で揺れる in daily conversations.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-04T05:00:47.110
4556
2012-02-04T05:00:47.110
4554
answer
I agree with user1016's answer. The slight difference in nuance (for me,
without strong basis) is this:

> Aにゆれる  
>  'swing against A'  
>  'swinging on its own as a reaction to A'
>
> Aでゆれる  
>  'swing {by/due to} A'  
>  'swinging, caused by A'

`に` implies a slight spontaneity whereas `で` implies a strong cause-result
relation.

So when you say `風に揺れる`, it implies that it is an inherent property of a flag
to wave against the wind, and the role of wind is just the trigger. `風でゆれる`
means that the wind is solely responsible for the mechanism of waving.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2012-02-04T05:55:33.597
4558
2018-06-27T19:09:11.440
2018-06-27T19:09:11.440
4554
answer
If you ask why a flag is waving, then you use kazede (風で). But if you are
describing a flag's movement, then you use kazeni yureteiru (風に揺れている).

'De' is used for why/method etc.

'Ni' is used for describing a situation/movement etc.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2012-02-04T13:04:45.267
4561
2018-06-27T14:13:28.490
2018-06-27T14:13:28.490
9831
1007
4554
answer
I agree with user1016 that に is slightly more literary. But I think that both
に and で mean a cause in this context, and に is not necessarily ruled out even
in the daily conversation.

I cannot pin down the exact difference between に and で, but I would like to
point out that there are similar sentences where both に and で are grammatical
and have almost the same meaning just like your examples:

  * [雨]{あめ}(に/で)[濡]{ぬ}れる
  * [病]{やまい}(に/で)[倒]{たお}れる
  * [仕事]{しごと}(に/で)[疲]{つか}れる
CC BY-SA 4.0
2012-02-04T13:43:27.810
4562
2018-06-27T19:09:36.333
2018-06-27T19:09:36.333
15
4554
answer