Corrections causing confusion about using に over で


When talking about chimneys with a native Japanese speaker, I said:

> でも、アメリカンの家には普通です
>
> But, for American houses it's normal (for chimneys to exist/be a part of the
> house).

Which was corrected to:

> でも、アメリカの家では普通のことです

I can somewhat understand the corrections to アメリカ and こと. And while I don't
fully understand the need for them, especially the こと one, I'm not entirely
confused by them either. To me, it just changes the meaning from "for American
houses it's normal" to "for America's houses it's a normal thing".

When asking why it was で instead of に, I wasn't really given any explanation.
I was just told:

> アメリカの家には普通、煙突あるよ
>
> これはOKだよ

Trying to follow up and get some sort of explanation, I asked:

> 「アメリカの家には普通のことです」がいいですか？

But I was just told:

> うーん、説明するのは難しいけど、この場合は"家には"だとおかしいな
>
> My translation:
>
> Nope, the explanation is difficult, but in this case "家には" is weird/wrong.

I assumed に because I'm just trying to state this (a chimney being a part of
the house) is normal for American houses. And I don't really see a hard action
or reason taking place here, which would make me think で should be used.

Can someone explain the reason why に is wrong and why で is correct?




This is simply because you must use で as a location marker when the predicate
is an adjective (including no-/na-adjectives like 普通).

  * アメリカ **で** はそれは普通です。  
It's normal in America.

  * ニューヨーク **で** は物価が高いです。  
Prices are high in New York.

  * 東京 **で** は今、桜が綺麗です。  
In Tokyo, the cherry blossoms are beautiful right now.

  * 動物の体は寒い場所 **で** 大きく、暖かい場所 **で** 小さい。  
Animal bodies are larger in cold places and smaller in warm places.

You can use に as a location particle when it's used with a verb of existence
such as ある and いる. So アメリカの家 **に** は煙突が **ある** is perfectly fine.

アメリカには普通です might be acceptable when some verb that takes に is clearly implied
in the previous context (e.g., "I rarely have the opportunity to go to China,
but to America, it's common"), but this doesn't happen often.




This is simply because you must use で as a location marker when the predicate
is an adjective (including no-/na-adjectives like 普通).

  * アメリカ **で** はそれは普通です。  
It's normal in America.

  * ニューヨーク **で** は物価が高いです。  
Prices are high in New York.

  * 東京 **で** は今、桜が綺麗です。  
In Tokyo, the cherry blossoms are beautiful right now.

  * 動物の体は寒い場所 **で** 大きく、暖かい場所 **で** 小さい。  
Animal bodies are larger in cold places and smaller in warm places.

You can use に as a location particle when it's used with a verb of existence
such as ある and いる. So アメリカの家 **に** は煙突が **ある** is perfectly fine.

アメリカには普通です might be acceptable when some verb that takes に is clearly implied
in the previous context (e.g., "I rarely have the opportunity to go to China,
but to America, it's common"), but this doesn't happen often.

