While reading One Piece, I came across the sentence 本が買ってほしいんだ
I wonder what's the function behind this が and how it would differ from the standart を
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Check this: japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/70630/…; also, it seems that of all things to buy with the gold, he wants Luffy to buy him a certain book, which he elaborates on in the next box. が indicates "this, and not anything else." Whether it is related to the て欲しい grammar form or not, however, someone else's opinion may be necessary.– BigRigzCommented Sep 28 at 13:25
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But in the sentences in that link, at least が still marks the subject. Here, 本 isn't the subject of 買う– AxeCommented Sep 28 at 16:39
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@Axe Some person is the subject, yes. It is more so a process of elimination; we can assume that the が may not be grammatically linked to the て欲しい grammar.– BigRigzCommented Sep 28 at 16:59
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Honestly, I'd regard this ungrammatical or a slip of the tongue (if not typo)...– broccoli forestCommented Oct 2 at 5:03
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2 Answers
What you might be missing is that this が doesn't pair with the verb 買う, but with the i-adjective ほしい. (Since an i-adjective simply describes its subject, it wouldn't make sense for it to use を for anything.) Here 買う is in te-form (買って), thus modifying ほしい.
This 〜てほしい construction is used here because the speaker wants someone else to buy the book for him. Otherwise, for "I want to buy the book", 本を買いたい (or 本は買いたい) would be fine.
What is the thing which is-desirable-for-buying? The book. So that's the grammatical subject. Just like how 本がほしい makes sense - the book is the desired thing; ほしい is making a claim about desirability, not about a person with a desire.
It is possible to use を here to mark a direct object of 買う. But I think this way suggests that the important thing is that the other party buys the book. The way seen here seems more natural by default: the important thing is that the speaker gets the book, as a result of the other party buying it for him.
See also:
answered Sep 28 at 23:12
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So I can parse it as follows: 本が/買って/ほしい, is that correct? And using を is more action-centered rather than object-centered? I also wonder if the が/を is the disambiguator whether a noun pairs with ほしい or てほしい. Because I'm confident that を買ってほしい is natural and fairly common use, maybe just more action-centered, since it involves を rather than が.– burcelaCommented Sep 29 at 9:42
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It's easier if you think of this 買って as a modifier that attaches directly to ほしい. Commented Sep 29 at 23:00
I agree with the explanation in terms of object versus action focus but I think that some caution is advisable in the free shifting from をtoガ。 Almost all grammar texts and sources point to a use of を as the only acceptable marker with a transitive verb in the て形 and 欲しい。 True it is that in the web, some sources report as follows :" Regarding the use of the particle が instead of を with the verb "欲しい" (hoshii), some examples in casual or literary contexts may show exceptions where が appears in structures typically requiring を, such as with transitive verbs..........(Omitted)…..example in a manga, it’s likely an intentional deviation for narrative effect, which is not uncommon in informal or artistic expressions of Japanese”
