16
votes
に vs. を in "to pass a test"
The ultimate answer to your question is "Japanese is different from English". I understand you want a reason, but there may not be a good reason. Some English transitive verbs are translated using a ...
- 330k
15
votes
お仕事に学校頑張って meaning
This に is for listing things ("work or school"). The sentence is roughly the same as お仕事や学校を頑張って.
- 330k
13
votes
Accepted
Why say "〜、皆には出来る。" instead of " 〜、皆は出来る。" in this context?
The に form is the "base" sentence here, and the は is added for emphasis.
One key to understanding how できる happens grammatically is that できる is often describing the thing that can be done, instead of ...
- 38.1k
12
votes
Accepted
私に言われても versus 私が言われても
私に言われても is Suffering Passive (迷惑の受身), a kind of Indirect Passive Structure (間接受身構文), and 私が言われても is Direct Passive Structure (直接受身構文).
「（あなたが）私に言う」 (Active/能動) "You tell me."
→ Direct Passive: 「私が（...
- 66.3k
12
votes
Accepted
Meaning of に in 本当に
Adjectives can often be used 'adverbially' (though they are generally not analysed by Japanese grammarians as 副詞) by adding に rather than な or in this case の.
- 12k
12
votes
Accepted
The usage of particle「に」：彼女に孫が一人いる。
[person] + に(は)～がある/いる is a very common pattern that can be translated to "[person] has ～", but this is safely used only with certain type of objects.
ability, trait, idea, right or other invisible/...
- 330k
11
votes
Accepted
volitional + nimo 作ろう＋にも?
This is an instance of the pattern VようにもBない
作ろう is what is often called the "volitional form" in English. The root verb is 作る [to make].
にも expresses "even though" and when joined to the volitional ...
- 8,246
11
votes
Accepted
Meaning of に in 早くに
早く in 早く言う is (functioning as) an adverb (or, the adverbial form of the i-adjective 早い.)
早く in 早くに言う is a noun (the noun form of the i-adjective 早い -- 形容詞「早い」の連用形「早く」が名詞になったもの). So 「早く+に」 is literally ...
- 66.3k
10
votes
Accepted
What does 「花に育てる編集」 mean?
まだ固いつぼみを見つけ出して、これにあたたかい春の風を送り、花に育てる
The direct object of 育てる is left out. It's これ, i.e. まだ固いつぼみ, "firm buds".
It's 「（これ(=まだ固いつぼみ)を）花に育てる」, "bring up (firm buds) into flowers".
そこへゆくと、［...
- 66.3k
9
votes
Why say "〜、皆には出来る。" instead of " 〜、皆は出来る。" in this context?
Reason for using「は」
The「は」provides contrast. It provides an unspoken (in English) and contrasting parenthetical context as shown below.
日本語の読み書きは皆にはできません。
Not everyone can read and write ...
- 7,431
9
votes
Accepted
What is the に particle in 他に doing
[他]{ほか} is a noun. And it can be used alone as a noun; example from 明鏡国語辞典:
「ここには[見当]{みあ}たらないから、どこか[他]{ほか}を[捜]{さが}そう。」
It can also be used adverbially; from 明鏡国語辞典:
「[会長]{かいちょう}[他]{ほか}[三名]{さんめい}...
- 66.3k
9
votes
The use of で and に with 座る
For 座る, the place where (or object on which) one sits is marked with に. I would say that
～の近くで座る is unnatural
～の近くに座る is natural.
Explanation
Verbs which are inherently linked to a location — such ...
- 48.3k
9
votes
Accepted
The difference between に and で when focusing on location vs. action
I think you seem to be a little confused about the respective functions of に and で.
While it's true that their use in the sentences you provided could be seen as altering the emphasis in some of the ...
- 6,721
9
votes
"外で遊びに行く" vs "外へ遊びに行く"
外へ遊びに行く (head outside to play)
-> The implication here is that the actor is not currently outside, and will head out to play.
外で遊びに行く
-> This sounds odd because it means that the actor "goes to ...
- 7,431
9
votes
Accepted
Why is に used with this verb?
逃げられたの 彼氏に！！
As you've noticed, this is an inverted word order of:
彼氏に逃げられたの
逃げられた here is Suffering Passive (迷惑の受身), which is a kind of Indirect Passive (間接受身).
As you know, in passive ...
- 66.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Use of に with 先週
As a native speaker, I also feel uncomfortable with 事故は先週に起こった, which can be said to be a little unnatural but probably cannot be said to be ungrammatical. 先週 plays the role of an adverb in this ...
- 1,259
9
votes
Accepted
Is it acceptable to include both direction (へ) and destination (に) in a sentence?
私は東へ日本に行った sounds very weird to my native ears. place/direction + へ and place/direction + に occupy the same argument ("slot") of 行く, so they are mutually exclusive. (Of course, something ...
- 330k
8
votes
What is the difference between にしては and としては?
I think にしては is close to "considering" and としては is close to "as".
For example, 彼は英語の先生にしては、優秀だ (He is talented considering he is a English teacher.) implies he has an ability other than English, but ...
- 24.3k
8
votes
When is the particle "に" redundant in the phrase "ために"
寒さのために死んだ。
The のために means "due to~" "all because of~" "only/primarily for the reason of~".
～ために has a nuance of "the result was caused only/primarily for this reason", and its main clause, or ...
- 66.3k
8
votes
Accepted
When is the particle "に" redundant in the phrase "ために"
"に" is used to emphasise the reasons in these sentences. All expressions you've picked up are linguistically right, but the problem they two sound unnatural is here and it depends on what ...
8
votes
The meaning of ”あれは魔術師に与えられた祝福”
あれは魔術師に与えられた祝福(だ) is ambiguous.
That is a blessing given to a sorcerer.
(the same as あれは魔術師へ与えられた祝福だ, which is unambiguous)
That is a blessing given by a sorcerer.
(the same as あれは魔術師{から/より}与えられた祝福だ, ...
- 330k
8
votes
Clarification on the particle following 今年
今年 doesn't take any particle when it is not topicalized and it works as a simple adverb. 今日, 昨日, 明日 and so on doesn't take に, either. If you want to topicalize 私, you should say:
私は今年ローラースケートを習いたいです。
...
- 330k
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