daigaku de tomodati ni deaimasita.

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

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.

With the verb 出会う, the person you meet is usually marked by に.

So:

• 友達に出会いました = met a friend / encountered a friend

This に does not mean to in the English sense here. It is just the particle that goes naturally with 出会う.

You can think of it as marking the target of the encounter.

Because 出会う normally does not take を for the person you meet.

Many English speakers expect を because in English we say meet someone, and someone looks like a direct object. But Japanese verbs do not always match English patterns.

With 出会う, Japanese usually says:

• 人に出会う = to meet a person
• 友達に出会う = to meet a friend

So 友達を出会いました would sound unnatural.

Both can be translated as met, but they are not exactly the same.

• 会いました comes from 会う, which often means to meet someone, to see someone, or to meet up with someone
• 出会いました comes from 出会う, which often has the nuance of encountering, coming across, or meeting for the first time

So 出会う can sound a little more like:

• a significant meeting
• a chance encounter
• a first meeting

Depending on context, 友達に出会いました can sound like:

• I ran into a friend
• I met a friend
• sometimes even I came to know a friend

If you simply mean I saw/met my friend at university, 友達に会いました may be more straightforward in many situations.

On its own, 友達に出会いました can be a little ambiguous.

It can suggest:

1. I encountered a friend at university
2. I met someone who became my friend, depending on the broader context

In real usage, 出会う often has a slightly special or memorable feeling, so it can sometimes sound like the meeting itself mattered.

If you want to say clearly I met up with a friend I already had, 友達に会いました is often more natural.

If you want to say I made a friend at university, Japanese often uses a different expression, such as:

• 大学で友達ができました。 = I made a friend / I made friends at university.

Because ました is the polite past ending for a verb.

The dictionary form is:

• 出会う

The polite non-past form is:

• 出会います

The polite past form is:

• 出会いました

So the sentence is talking about something that already happened.

The structure is:

place + で + person + に + verb

So here:

• 大学で = at university
• 友達に = with / to a friend, as marked for 出会う
• 出会いました = met

A very literal breakdown would be something like:

At university, I encountered a friend.

Japanese often leaves out the subject when it is obvious from context.

So even though English usually needs I, Japanese does not have to say it.

This sentence naturally implies something like:

• I met a friend at university
• We met a friend at university

Usually, context tells you who did the meeting.

If you want to add the topic, you could say:

• 私は大学で友達に出会いました。

But very often, that is unnecessary.

By itself, 友達 can mean:

• a friend
• friends

Japanese nouns usually do not change form for singular vs. plural the way English nouns do.

So the exact number depends on context.

In this sentence, many learners would naturally understand it as a friend, but friends is also possible if the situation makes that clear.

Yes, Japanese word order is more flexible than English, as long as the particles stay attached to the right words.

For example, these are both possible:

• 大学で友達に出会いました。
• 友達に大学で出会いました。

Both are grammatical, though the first one is more neutral and natural here.

The particles are what show each word’s role:

• で tells you 大学 is the place
• に tells you 友達 is the person met

So Japanese relies more on particles than on strict word order.

Yes. 大学 usually means university, but depending on the context and the variety of English, it can sometimes be translated as college.

For many learners, the safest default is:

• 大学 = university

But in natural English translation, I met a friend in college may also sound completely fine.

Yes. It is in the polite style because of -ました.

• 出会いました = polite past
• 出会った = plain past

So this sentence is suitable for normal conversation, class examples, and polite everyday speech.

A plain version would be:

• 大学で友達に出会った。

It is one verb form.

The dictionary form is:

• 出会う

This becomes:

• 出会い
  • ました → 出会いました

So even though it may look long, it is a single verb in polite past form.

Yes, it can.

Because 出会う sometimes suggests a meaningful encounter, 大学で友達に出会いました can sound a bit more memorable or story-like than a plain met.

For example, it can fit situations like:

• telling a life story
• talking about an important friendship
• describing how you came across someone

If you just want a simple factual statement such as I met my friend at university yesterday, 会いました may feel more neutral.