The difference

[tomokotomokodesu_502163]

Can anyone tell me the difference between の and で in this sentence?

この小さい島はハリケーンの被害を受けました。

この小さい島はハリケーンで被害を受けました。

They both mean "The small island was damaged by the hurricane"

[ec2953]

Hi Tomokotomokodesu (or simply "Tomoko"?)

I am not an expert in Japanese and I could be wrong, but from what I know I would say that the first sentence could be roughly translated as:

1) This small island "suffered from" the damage by the hurricane (could refer to a specific hurricane though imho)
> ハリケーンの被害を受けました (THE damage of the hurricane)

2) This small island got damaged by a hurricane (we don't necessarily know which one)
> ハリケーンで　("by hurricane" -> by some hurricane)

Hope someone will be able to confirm that !

Ed

[community.japanese]

Tomokotomokodesu san,

I think Ed san’s explanation is good.
Ed san,
どうもありがとうございます。

Yuki　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com