Role of と in 必要とします


> 植物は水と光を必要とします

I don't understand the second particle と here. I was taught 必要があります, and I
don't understand this construction, the は is also confusing to me, I would
have used に. Shouldn't it be:

> 植物に水と光(を)必要があります

Parsed as "water and light are necessary to plants"




The first と between 水 and 光 is "and".

The second と before します is part of the `A + を + B + とする` construction, which
means "to think of A as B", "to use A as B", "to consider A B", "to make A B",
and so on.

  * [Meaning of ~を~に(して) / ~を~として / ~を~にする / ~を~とする / ~を~にした / ~を~とした](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/73082/5010)
  * [Learn JLPT N2 Grammar: を～とする](https://japanesetest4you.com/flashcard/learn-jlpt-n2-grammar-%E3%82%92%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A8%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E3%82%92%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A8%E3%81%97%E3%81%A6-oto-suruoto-shite/)
  * [を～として (o~to shite)](https://japanesequizzes.com/portfolio/%E3%82%92%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A8%E3%81%97%E3%81%A6-oto-shite/)

You can find other verbs that take this type of と in [this
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/55169/5010).

So Aを必要とする can be translated very literally as "to think of A as necessary",
but you can think Aを必要とする is a set phrase that just means "to require/need A".

> 植物は水と光を必要とします。  
>  Plants require water and light.

植物に水と光を必要があります is ungrammatical and makes no sense (ある is the only verb in the
sentence, but it's an intransitive verb that never takes を).




The first と between 水 and 光 is "and".

The second と before します is part of the `A + を + B + とする` construction, which
means "to think of A as B", "to use A as B", "to consider A B", "to make A B",
and so on.

  * [Meaning of ~を~に(して) / ~を~として / ~を~にする / ~を~とする / ~を~にした / ~を~とした](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/73082/5010)
  * [Learn JLPT N2 Grammar: を～とする](https://japanesetest4you.com/flashcard/learn-jlpt-n2-grammar-%E3%82%92%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A8%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E3%82%92%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A8%E3%81%97%E3%81%A6-oto-suruoto-shite/)
  * [を～として (o~to shite)](https://japanesequizzes.com/portfolio/%E3%82%92%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A8%E3%81%97%E3%81%A6-oto-shite/)

You can find other verbs that take this type of と in [this
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/55169/5010).

So Aを必要とする can be translated very literally as "to think of A as necessary",
but you can think Aを必要とする is a set phrase that just means "to require/need A".

> 植物は水と光を必要とします。  
>  Plants require water and light.

植物に水と光を必要があります is ungrammatical and makes no sense (ある is the only verb in the
sentence, but it's an intransitive verb that never takes を).

