Which verb fits in 庭に木をもう一本＿？


There is a closed-ended question in Nihongo so-matome:

> 庭に木をもう一本＿
>
> １）植えました
>
> ２）切りました

The book says the answer is 植えました. What makes this answer the correct one?
Doesn't 切る fit here too? The only thing that comes to mind is に／で, but neither
verb is a verb of existence.




で marks your location when the verb is being performed. You can be in the
garden when you plant a tree and when you cut down a tree. So, if it were 庭で,
either verb would be fine.

に (amongst many other functions) marks the target of the verb. Where do you
plant the tree? You plant it in the garden (into the soil). The garden is what
the tree is being inserted into. There is no equivalent sensible
interpretation for cutting down a tree.




で marks your location when the verb is being performed. You can be in the
garden when you plant a tree and when you cut down a tree. So, if it were 庭で,
either verb would be fine.

に (amongst many other functions) marks the target of the verb. Where do you
plant the tree? You plant it in the garden (into the soil). The garden is what
the tree is being inserted into. There is no equivalent sensible
interpretation for cutting down a tree.

