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私に甘えっぱなしだなんて、そんなこと気にしないで良いんだからね……?」- act spoiled "to"/depend on me

だからあんたも、何かの間違いで私に惚れたりしないでよ? どうせ面倒なことにしかならなそうだし - fall in love "towards" me?

はい、魔力とは人の持つ欲望に根ざすもの - probably location に, Included this to make sure

でも、こうして1分1秒迷っている間に、地上は滅びに近づいています。probably movement/destination に, but not physically moving. Included this to make sure

勝負? 私に勝てると思ってるの?」- a match? you think you can beat me? (gain victory to?/from? me)

というかお前に出来て私に出来ないはずないし……」-if you could do it, there's no way i couldn't; see below

I noticed that the dictionary of japanese grammar says An intransitive verb can never take に....

When I read this rule when i just started learning i didn't think much of it, but now that I've read a fair bit of stuff this rule just doesn't add up.

I dug a few sentences just for examples, but i actually can't find any examples of a transitive only verb directly following 私に in this script, but there are countless examples the where an intransitive verb is.

Particularly with the last sentence, I were to write, "if you could do it, there's no way i couldn't", in Japanese, i probably wouldn't have thought to use に.

Are there any formal explanations ? Thank you

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2 Answers 2

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That statement is part of "●Notes 2.", i.e., the rule you mentioned is about ~に in the sense of "for (the sake of) ~" used with any "verb used in the Verbてあげる or Verbてくれる construction". For example, even though you can say 学校に行く in isolation, you cannot say ×彼に学校に行ってあげた nor ×彼に学校に行ってくれた in the sense of "for him" because 行く is an intransitive verb. Instead, you have to say 彼のために学校に行ってあげた/くれた. By contrast, 彼に学校に行ってもらった is fine.

EDIT: Let me summarize this grammar point in my own words. The "Notes" under ㊦に(2) is saying the following. Please keep in mind that everything written below is only about に in the sense of "for (the sake of) ~".

  • 彼に浴衣をあげる means "I give a yukata to him". Easy.
  • However, 彼に浴衣を着る means nothing (because 着る does not normally take に).
  • However, 彼に浴衣を着てあげる means "I wear a yukata for him" even though 着る does not normally take に. This is because 着る is used with あげる, and 着る is a transitive verb that does not take a human direct object.
  • However, 彼に死んであげる means nothing, even though there is あげる and 死ぬ is a verb that does not take a direct object whatsoever. This is because 死ぬ is intransitive! Only in this specific situation, "An intransitive verb can never take に" (in the sense of for the sake of ~) is true.
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  • I don't really have any qualms about that but I'm not sure what that has to do with instransitive verbs commonly following に when there is a absolute statement saying that a intransitive verb can't follow に.
    – charu
    Commented Sep 26, 2018 at 18:00
  • @charu That's not an "absolute" statement. Quite the contrary, that's a statement applicable in a very limited situation...
    – naruto
    Commented Sep 26, 2018 at 18:39
  • Hm i guess "An intransitive verb can never take に even if it is used in the Verbてあげる or Verbてくれる construction. " is somewhat misleading then as it seemingly implies that i can never be used in any other situation as well but I digress. Regarding Xに intrans-V in general, is it fair to say that it is somewhat equivalent to Xに対して intrans-V? Or is there a better definition? Would 欲望に根ざす and 滅びに近づいています be in a separate class as well (on/at/movement/destination)?
    – charu
    Commented Sep 26, 2018 at 18:47
  • @charu That statement has nothing to do with に in 欲望に根差す and 滅びに近づく. It's out of the scope of that "Notes". I agree that it's misleading...
    – naruto
    Commented Sep 26, 2018 at 18:54
  • i edited the main post regarding the sentences i posted, now that we've gotten past the てあげる, etc holdup. If you don't mind. thank you
    – charu
    Commented Sep 26, 2018 at 19:37
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できる can also mean that "something is possible".
In this case the "something" is the subject of the sentence.
Example:
この仕事は私には出来ません。
This job is too difficult for me.

https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/en/出来る/#je-51361
https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/151118/meaning/m0u/出来る/

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