Using も in place of を


I'm currently trying to get back into studying Japanese. I want to take the
JLPT N3 this summer. To get myself in the mode for this I am first looking at
the N4 tests on the JLPT website.

The reading parts and kanji comprehension are no challenge for me. I can get
through the vast majority of that without trouble and where I do slip up I can
understand why.

Grammar however...grammar is the devil.

One of the supposedly easiest questions on the test is as follows-

> わたしの父は中国語も英語ｘ話せます

My instinct was for the answer to be を. も means in addition, so you have to
have an actual action for the も to be in addition to, right?

No. It turns out the answer is も. I fail and I don't understand the reasons.
Can anyone explain why in this context を is incorrect and も is right?

It is a bit of an unusual sentence and a break from textbook patterns of the
additional も. The way I'm used to is one person says I like y/I come from z,
and the other person says 私も. Its not a particle I generally see used too
often in this also sense, where I see it its usually as a negative. To have
the も come first like this confuses me.




> わたしの父は中国語も英語も話せます。  
>  My father can speak both Chinese and English.

～も～も is how you say "both ... and ..." in Japanese. It works with all
particles, as も does by itself, i.e. usually replaces は, が, を and follows へ,
に, etc.

It also works with more than two も's, e.g.

> わたしの父は中国語も英語もドイツ語も話せます。  
>  My father can speak (all of) Chinese, English and German.

The point is that everything in the list is marked by も. If you said

> わたしの父は中国語も英語を話せます。

it just sounds wrong, but if it means anything, one would have to assume that
も replaces が, which would give

> As for my father, his Chinese can also speak English.




> わたしの父は中国語も英語も話せます。  
>  My father can speak both Chinese and English.

～も～も is how you say "both ... and ..." in Japanese. It works with all
particles, as も does by itself, i.e. usually replaces は, が, を and follows へ,
に, etc.

It also works with more than two も's, e.g.

> わたしの父は中国語も英語もドイツ語も話せます。  
>  My father can speak (all of) Chinese, English and German.

The point is that everything in the list is marked by も. If you said

> わたしの父は中国語も英語を話せます。

it just sounds wrong, but if it means anything, one would have to assume that
も replaces が, which would give

> As for my father, his Chinese can also speak English.

