Expressions for Space and Time: において, にて, をもって, にかけて, にわたって, and を通じて

Last time, you learned various ways to express reasons, e.g. “地じ震しんによって家いえが壊こわれました (The house was destroyed due to the earthquake),” and “大雨おおあめにつき今日きょうはお休やすみします (We will be closed today due to the heavy rain).” In this lesson, you will learn compound particles which are related to another function of the particle で.

How to Express Space and Time in Various Ways

In the basic grammar section, we explained that the particle で indicates ranges and periods of time, e.g. “野や球きゅうは日に本ほんで人にん気きです (Baseball is popular in Japan)”, and “一いち時じ間かんで宿しゅく題だいをする (I will do my homework for an hour.).” The particle で is certainly powerful and useful. However, if you know compound particles, you can make clearer sentences with various nuances.

Compound Particle Counterparts to the Particle で

The compound particles that we will look at here have specific meanings with a higher level of formality. Although they are interchangeable with the particle で, the detailed nuances are not the same. Let’s learn the usages one by one.

をもって: The Beginning or End of a Period of Time

をもって can express the beginning or the end of a period of time. をもって sounds formal and is often used in business situations.

Note: For indicating the beginning of a period of time, に will be used, not で. をもって can be replaced like this;

にして: Unexpected Numbers

にして is used with age or duration and indicates unexpected numbers. You can use にして to show contrast by combining は (*Look at the third example below). Note: にして is not necessarily formal, as it can be used just for emphasis.

It’s a different function, but にして can replace the te-form of na-adjectives and nouns. This also sounds formal.

医い者しゃでお金かね持もち => 医い者しゃにしてお金かね持もち: doctor and rich
綺き麗れいで頭あたまがいい => 綺き麗れいにして頭あたまがいい: beautiful and smart

において and にて: Locations of Actions

Both において and にて can express locations of actions in a formal way.

において can also be used to express a specific topic for judgment.

When they are used with nouns which indicate time, において and にて express different meanings. にて indicates an ending time in the same way as をもって.

において is a formal way to indicate a time when events take place, which can substitute for both the particles で and に. However, you can only use it with a very limited number of nouns with the following suffixes: “世せい紀き: century,” “時じ代だい: era,” “期き: term,” “末まつ: end,” “時じ点てん: moment,” etc.

If you say における, you can directly connect it with a wider range of nouns in the same way as particle の, but it is much more formal.

Other Compound Particles Related to Space and Time

In addition to these interchangeable counterparts to the particle で, we would like to introduce some other compound particles related to space and time. These are NOT interchangeable with the particle で.

にわたって: Ongoing Events Over Large Areas / Periods of Time

When にわたって is connected with nouns indicating a long period, it expresses that there are ongoing events over the period. If you connect it with nouns which indicate a large area, you express that events take place over the whole area.

を通つうじて: Something (Not Ongoing Events) Over Large Areas / Periods of Time

を通じて is connected with nouns which indicate a period and indicates “throughout” in Japanese. This is rarely used with nouns which indicate an area, but if that is the case, you express that something happens throughout the area. を通（とお）して is sometimes used instead of を通じて. They have the same function.

Difference between にわたって and を通つうじて

The basic rule is that にわたって is more suitable if you express ongoing events, i.e. when you say it snowed for the whole month, にわたって is suitable because the snow was ongoing.

When you say delicious fishes can be eaten throughout the four seasons, を通じて is suitable because nothing actually happens, but you just tell the fact.

With the example above, they are interchangeable because you can treat it as both “the state of not raining is ongoing” and “no action is happening.”

にかけて: Vague Ending Points

にかけて is connected with nouns which indicate a period or an area and expresses the ending point. This is similar to the particle まで. The difference is that にかけて is more suitable when the beginning and the end are vague. If there is a specific end, まで should be used (*Look at the third example below).

にわたって sometimes substitutes for にかけて for large areas, but not for time.

Summary

1. をもって indicates the beginning or the end of a period of time.
2. にして indicates unexpected numbers.
3. において and にて indicate locations of actions.
4. にわたって indicates ongoing events over large areas or per iods of time.
5. を通じて indicates something (not ongoing events) over large areas or periods of time.
6. にかけて indicates vague ending points.
7. をもって, にして, において, and にて are interchangeable with で.
8. にわたって, を通じて, and にかけて are NOT interchangeable with で.

You may be surprised that there are so many compound particles. We recommend you firstly try to recognize them when native speakers use them. Then, once you have become familiar with these formal expressions, you can start using them yourself. Actually, there are still other compound particles which are the counterparts to the particle で. Next, you will learn ones related to means (e.g. ‘by taxi’) and standards.