One difference between denwa and “telephone” is that denwa 電話 is often used to mean “telephone call” whereas “telephone” is not.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Kinō Tanaka-san kara denwa ga arimashita.
きのう田中さんから電話がありました。
There was a telephone call (lit., There was a telephone) from Mr. Tanaka yesterday.
In English, “telephone” is also used as a verb; in Japanese, on the other hand, suru する has to be added to change denwa 電話 into a verb, that is, denwa-suru 電話する “to telephone [someone].”
EXAMPLE:
(3) Yoshida-san ni denwa-shite kudasai.
吉田さんに電話してください。
Please call Mr. Yoshida.
De
Denwa o kakeru 電話をかける “to make a phone call” and denwa o ireru 電話を入れる, a fairly new coinage meaning “to give [someone] a call,” may be used in place of denwasuru 電話する, as in
EXAMPLE:
(1) Yoshida-san ni denwa o kakete (or irete) kudasai.
吉田さんに電話をかけて（入れて）ください。
Please give Mr. Yoshida a call.
When the person to whom the phone call is made is not mentioned or even implied, only denwa o kakeru 電話をかける is acceptable. In (2), therefore, only (a) would be correct.
EXAMPLES:
| (2) Uchi no ko wa うちの子は | (a) denwa o kakeru 電話をかける (b) *denwa o ireru *電話を入れる (c) *denwa-suru *電話する | no ga suki de komarimasu. のが好きで困ります。 |
Our child likes making phone calls too much.
Morita (1985) calls the following sentence not quite correct.
EXAMPLE:
(3) *Denwa o kake yō to shita ga, kakaranakatta.
*電話をかけようとしたが、かからなかった。
I tried to reach him by phone, but could not get through.
To convey the meaning above, Morita suggests using (4) below.
EXAMPLE:
(4) Denwa o kaketa ga, ohanashi-chū datta.
電話をかけたが、お話し中だった。
I tried to call him, but the line was busy.
In other words, denwa o kakeru 電話をかける may be used whether or not the call goes through, whereas in English “to phone” may not.
According to Morita, denwa o kake yō to suru 電話をかけようとする describes the stage before one picks up the receiver, puts in a coin, or inserts a telephone card. The following sentence would, therefore, be acceptable, unlike (3) above.
EXAMPLE:
(5) Denwa o kake yō to shita ga, denwachō ga miatara-nakatta.
電話をかけようとしたが、電話帳が見当たらなかった。
I tried to make a phone call but could not find a phone book.
De
Deru 出る most often means “to go out, to come out, to get out.”
EXAMPLES:
(1) Amari atsui kara, niwa ni demashō.
あまり暑いから、庭に出ましょう。
It’s so hot; let’s go out into the yard.
(2) Nihon o deta no wa nijū-nen mae datta.
日本を出たのは二十年前だった。
It was 20 years ago that I left Japan.
With reference to school, deru 出る is used as a synonym for sotsugyō-suru 卒業する “to graduate.”
EXAMPLE:
(3) Daigaku o dete (or sotsugyō-shite) kara nani o suru tsumori desu ka.
大学を出て（卒業して）から何をするつもりですか。
What do you plan to do after graduating from college?
Don’t equate deru 出る meaning “to graduate” with English “leave,” since “to leave school” might mean “to leave school without graduating.”
This latter meaning would be expressed in Japanese by another verb: chūtai-suru 中退 する “to drop out of school.”
EXAMPLE:
(4) Ano hito wa daigaku o chūtai-shite haiyū ni natta sō desu.
あの人は大学を中退して俳優になったそうです。
I hear he dropped out of college and became an actor.
One should beware of the difference between ni deru に出る and o deru を出る. The former means “to attend,” while the latter means “to go out of” or “to leave.” For example,
EXAMPLES:
(5) kurasu ni deru
クラスに出る
to attend class
(6) kurasu o deru
クラスを出る
to leave class
(See also DEKAKERU.)
