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 ...
naruto's user avatar
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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.
naruto's user avatar
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14 votes

Other uses of the particle に in お兄ちゃんには見つからない

This に is not a location marker. In this article about the particle に: Source "Ni" indicates an agent or a source in passive or causative verbs. It translates into "by" or "from". ...
naruto's user avatar
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13 votes
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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 ...
Eiríkr Útlendi's user avatar
12 votes
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What does the に do in 表情から察するに?

That's right. This kind of に won't always be replaceable with と, but in your case it basically is. From デジタル大辞泉: [接助]活用語の連体形に付く。 1 あとの叙述の前置きとして続ける意を表す。…と。…ところ。 「考えてみるに庶民のための政治は当分望めそうにない」 The ...
mirka's user avatar
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12 votes
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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(...
chocolate's user avatar
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12 votes
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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.
Angelos's user avatar
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12 votes
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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/...
naruto's user avatar
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11 votes
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Causative Form - Difference between 子供に本を読ませる and 子供を本を読ませる

子供を本を読ませる is ungrammatical, and you have to say 子供に本を読ませる. Here are the basic rules for causation: For verbs which take を, the agent (or "causee") is marked with に. Such verbs are usually transitive ...
naruto's user avatar
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11 votes
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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 ...
virmaior's user avatar
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10 votes
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Trouble interpreting に思う in その武具に思うことはいっぱいあるみたい

Your interpretation is correct. This 〜に思うこと is equivalent to 〜に対して思うこと. 実際使って直接肌で感じる冒険者の方が、その武具に思うことはいっぱいあるみたい。 It seems that adventurers who actually use and experience it firsthand have more ...
mirka's user avatar
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10 votes
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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、[...
chocolate's user avatar
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10 votes
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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 ...
chocolate's user avatar
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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 ...
sazarando's user avatar
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9 votes
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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}...
chocolate's user avatar
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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 ...
Earthliŋ's user avatar
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9 votes
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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 ...
Ben Roffey's user avatar
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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 ...
sazarando's user avatar
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9 votes
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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 ...
chocolate's user avatar
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9 votes
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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 ...
samhana's user avatar
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9 votes
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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 ...
naruto's user avatar
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8 votes
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What is the function of particle に in this sentence? みんなお寺に名前を登録しなければなりませんでした。

Both are grammatically correct, but they have different meanings. お寺で名前を登録する means "to register their names at the temple". The temple happens to be where they registered their names. Their names ...
naruto's user avatar
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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 ...
Yuuichi Tam's user avatar
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