daigaku de tomodachi ni deaimashita.

I met a friend at university.

Breakdown of daigaku de tomodachi ni deaimashita.

• 友とも達だち: friend
• で: location particle
• に: target particle
• 大学だいがく: university

Questions & Answers about daigaku de tomodachi ni deaimashita.

How do you read this sentence?

It is read:

だいがく で ともだち に であいました。

In romaji:

Daigaku de tomodachi ni deaimashita.

A natural word-by-word breakdown is:

• 大学 = university / college
• で = at / in
• 友達 = friend / friends
• に = marks the person you meet
• 出会いました = met / encountered

Why is で used after 大学?

で marks the place where an action happens.

So in this sentence, 大学で means:

• at the university
• in college
• at university

Because meeting is an action, Japanese uses で for the location where that action took place.

Compare:

• 大学で勉強しました。 = I studied at university.
• 公園で遊びました。 = I played in the park.

Why is に used after 友達?