How to parse 中国人で日本語が話せる方は、お電話ください。

Question

I have a difficulty to parse the following sentence.

中国人で日本語が話せる方は、お電話ください。

I just understood the following partial phrases.

• 中国人で means "with Chinese"
• 日本語が話せる方 means "person who can speak Japanese"
• お電話ください means "please telephone"

I have learnt で that functions as

• バイクで学校へ行きます。I go to school by a motorcycle.
• 家で食べます。 I eat at home.

But the particle で in question is difficult to understand.

What does the sentence actually mean and what is the usage of で in this case?

Answer 1

You are mixing up two completely different 「で's」.

1. Particle 「で」← 「バイクで行く」、「家で食べる」, etc.

2. [連用形]{れんようけい} (continuative form) of the affirmation auxiliary verb 「だ」. (Auxiliary verbs conjugate just as verbs and adjectives do.)

「[中国人]{ちゅうごくじん}で[日本語]{にほんご}が[話]{はな}せる[方]{かた}は、お[電話]{でんわ}ください。」

It is the second 「で」 above that is used in this sentence; therefore, 「中国人で」 does not mean "with Chinese".

「中国人で日本語が話せる」 is a relative clause that modifies the 「方」 meaning "those who are Chinese and able to speak Japanese".

Therefore, the 「中国人で」 part can be replaced by 「中国人であり」.

It uses 「中国人で」 instead of 「中国人だ」 because the phrase continues to add more information besides the applicants having to be Chinese.

The sentence means:

"Those who are Chinese and able to speak Japanese, please call (us)."