The double use of で in a sentence


It has been awhile since I studied/ used my Japanese, so I bought a
dictionary. While looking around in it I found the word つむ{tsumu} - to pick ,
to pluck.

The example sentence used for the word is:

> 'かそく{kazoku} で{de} はたけ{hatake} で{de} いちご{ichigo} を{o} つみました{tsumimasita}.' -
> They picked strawberries in the field as a family.

I am a bit confused by this.

  1. The first で - I normally use Xで as a way to say by means of X. For example: I came by bus, an inanimate object, but in this case the family, an animate object, is being referenced. Why is と not being used?

  2. The second で - Why is this not a (target) に instead of a で?

I looked in my grammar books for an explanation but could not find anything
that addressed these usages.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Dave




The first で means "動作・作用の行われる状態(manner of an action)". For example, 一人で旅行した(I
traveled by myself), 彼ら自身でその家を作った(They made the house by themselves).

と means "with". For example, 私は彼女と旅行した(I traveled with my girlfriend),
友達と昼御飯を食べた(I ate lunch with my friends).

家族と旅行した and 家族で旅行した are the same meaning. However you can't say 友達で旅行した but
友達と旅行した. This is because this で means "including me", so 友達で can't include
"me". 友達と三人で旅行した make sense because it can include "me", and it is the same
meaning as 友達二人と旅行した(I traveled with two my friends).

As for the second で, generally, place+で+action, place+に+state. For example,
公園で走る, not 公園に走る, 公園にいる, not 公園でいる.

