で cannot be used here right?


The English sentence being "I brush my teeth, wash my face, and have breakfast
every day."

My translation was 私は毎日歯 **で** 磨いて顔 **で** 洗って朝ご飯を食べます.

The given answer was 私は毎日歯を磨いて顔を洗って朝ご飯を食べます.

Given the context, I thought で could be used because I'm marking the
location/tool/method/condition for an action.

But that's not correct, right? Because 歯 and 顔 should be treated as direct
objects and not any of the above?




If you were marking location, consider what you'd really be saying in English.

> I brush on my teeth, wash on my face, and have breakfast every day.

When you're using で you'd indicating where the action is occurring. Consider
how odd this sounds in English. It's the same in Japanese: unless there's
something on your teeth that you were brushing or something on your face that
you were washing.

If you're using で to mark the location of an action, you're marking the
location within which the action was occurring.

> 図書館で本をよみました。

> I read my book at the library.

You could say

> 台所で歯を磨いて。。。

> I brushed my teeth in the kitchen and ....

If you're thinking of your teeth or your face as a _tool_ , then the rendering
in English would be to the following affect:

> I brushed with my teeth, and I washed with my face....

Hopefully, you're not using your teeth as a tool for brushing something
(you'll wear your teeth away and there are probably better _tools_ available).
When you're brushing your teeth, you're using a toothbrush, not your teeth.

> 歯ブラシで歯をみがきました。

> I brushed my teeth with a toothbrush.

And unless you're into strange sexual practices, you're probably not washing
anything with your face.

> ハンドタオルで顔を洗った

> I washed my face with a washcloth.




If you were marking location, consider what you'd really be saying in English.

> I brush on my teeth, wash on my face, and have breakfast every day.

When you're using で you'd indicating where the action is occurring. Consider
how odd this sounds in English. It's the same in Japanese: unless there's
something on your teeth that you were brushing or something on your face that
you were washing.

If you're using で to mark the location of an action, you're marking the
location within which the action was occurring.

> 図書館で本をよみました。

> I read my book at the library.

You could say

> 台所で歯を磨いて。。。

> I brushed my teeth in the kitchen and ....

If you're thinking of your teeth or your face as a _tool_ , then the rendering
in English would be to the following affect:

> I brushed with my teeth, and I washed with my face....

Hopefully, you're not using your teeth as a tool for brushing something
(you'll wear your teeth away and there are probably better _tools_ available).
When you're brushing your teeth, you're using a toothbrush, not your teeth.

> 歯ブラシで歯をみがきました。

> I brushed my teeth with a toothbrush.

And unless you're into strange sexual practices, you're probably not washing
anything with your face.

> ハンドタオルで顔を洗った

> I washed my face with a washcloth.

