Usage of に in 「雨にぬれる」

Question

雨{あめ}にぬれる

Why shouldn’t it be

雨{あめ}でぬれる

Could you please explain to me why に is used in this expression? Is で incorrect here or is there a difference in nuance?

Answer 1

First off, let us check a corpus to see if there is actually a difference in distribution. Here are some results from BCCWJ (searching with the stem 「濡れ」 to capture multiple different inflections):

　　　　　　　に　　　　　　　　　で　　　　　　比
雨に濡れ　１３８　／　雨で濡れ　１２　＝　１１．５
水に濡れ　　４８　／　水で濡れ　　７　＝　　６．９
涙に濡れ　　２１　／　涙で濡れ　２０　＝　　１．１
汗に濡れ　　２２　／　汗で濡れ　２６　＝　　０．８

There definitely seems to be a difference in distribution: some arguments (雨、水) highly prefer に, while other arguments are more indifferent between に and で (涙, 汗).

I think the fundamental difference that に is more about simply describing what something is wet with, suggesting a natural, spontaneous, or passive process, while で suggests an active cause-effect process. (Similar to these two answers: 1, 2 on 揺れる with に or で.)

That's not to say you can't use で with 雨; I think the following is just fine, for example:

「どうせ雨で濡れるし行かないわ」

In this case you are emphasizing that you will "get wet because of the rain", not just that you will get wet in the rain, so the cause-effect nuance of で fits. Of course 雨に works fine here too.

Despite the rather tilted BCCWJ hit counts, I think in general both で and に are acceptable, but nuance-wise one sometimes fits better than the other.