Why is に used here and are there any possible replacements for it here?


> 彼は生徒に人気がある

I have done a quick search and I have found in cases where 人気のある and 人気がある are
used that に marks who something is popular with most of the time. Why is に
used here and could we use some alternative to mark 生徒?




It's [almost impossible to explain
why](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/16270/5010) when it comes to
particle choice. I don't know why English speakers say "be popular with ～",
but not "be popular to ～", but perhaps that's something you have to memorize
rather than wondering why. It's the sixth (or eighth?) definition of [this
dictionary
entry](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/166083/meaning/m0u/%E3%81%AB/), if it
helps. English is equally "illogical"; also see
[this](https://ell.stackexchange.com/a/42912/8629).

So you should memorize ～は～に人気がある / ～は～に人気だ as a set phrase. You may see の used
instead of が in a relative clause ([that's a universal grammatical
rule](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/12825/5010)).

Using と will not make sense at all. Occasionally へ is used in a relative
clause, but I would say using に is always the safest.

>   * 生徒に人気がある先生 a teacher who is popular with students
>   * 生徒へ人気がある先生 (less common)
>   * [x] 生徒と人気がある先生 (plain wrong)
>




It's [almost impossible to explain
why](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/16270/5010) when it comes to
particle choice. I don't know why English speakers say "be popular with ～",
but not "be popular to ～", but perhaps that's something you have to memorize
rather than wondering why. It's the sixth (or eighth?) definition of [this
dictionary
entry](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/166083/meaning/m0u/%E3%81%AB/), if it
helps. English is equally "illogical"; also see
[this](https://ell.stackexchange.com/a/42912/8629).

So you should memorize ～は～に人気がある / ～は～に人気だ as a set phrase. You may see の used
instead of が in a relative clause ([that's a universal grammatical
rule](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/12825/5010)).

Using と will not make sense at all. Occasionally へ is used in a relative
clause, but I would say using に is always the safest.

>   * 生徒に人気がある先生 a teacher who is popular with students
>   * 生徒へ人気がある先生 (less common)
>   * [x] 生徒と人気がある先生 (plain wrong)
>

