に vs. を in "to pass a test"


Every time I'm feeling confident about the correct usage of に, を, and で, I get
thrown for a loop. Could someone please explain to me the use of に in this
sentence:

_I will study a lot and pass the test_

> watashi wa takusan benkyō shite tesuto **ni** gōkaku shimasu  
>  私はたくさん勉強してテスト **に** 合格します。

I chose を instead of に and it was marked incorrect on my test. I'm not really
sure why. I'm assuming that に is correct because I should have interpreted the
sentence as "I will study a lot **to pass the test** "?

Thank you very much in advance for any clarification.




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 Japanese intransitive verb,
and vice versa. For each verb, you have to remember the correct particle, one
by one.

**Intransitive in English, Transitive in Japanese**

  * to look at the picture 絵 **を** 見る 
  * to listen to the music 音楽 **を** 聞く
  * to hope for a success 成功 **を** 望む
  * to graduate from the school 学校 **を** 卒業する
  * to refer to a dictionary 辞書 **を** 参照する

**Transitive in English, Intransitive in Japanese**

  * to reach the destination 目的地 **に** 着く
  * to enter the park 公園 **に** 入る
  * to meet her 彼女 **に** 会う / 彼女 **と** 会う
  * to kiss him 彼 **に** キスする
  * to marry her 彼女 **と** 結婚する
  * to say yes はい **と** 言う

Tricky ones like 合格する are asked in exams. In general, it's always best to
learn verbs along with its concrete usage examples.

