Can you use multiple を in one sentence?


I was listening to lastfm.jp the other day, and happened across this line in
an [artist bio](http://www.lastfm.jp/music/Shugo+Tokumaru):

[code]

    14歳の頃にギターを、17歳で作曲を始める。
    
[/code]

I've often read here on JLU that a phrase particle should only appear once per
sentence for a given particle meaning. (Presumably this is more specific, and
tied to the predicate verb?)

  * Is this substandard/casual Japanese more appropriate to mixi than a biographical snippet?

  * Is this an exception to that general rule/theme? Are there any rules for how to put together a multiple を sentence?

  * Is this simply an elliptical phrase joined to a complete sentence?




I think you're confusing multiple をs in a sentence with multiple をs in a
clause.

Multiple をs in a sentence is perfectly normal:

> 私がご飯を作っている間、彼女はテレビを見ていた

whereas multiple をs in a clause isn't:

> × 台風を気をつける

What makes your example sentence complicated is that it's not completely clear
whether there is one clause or two.

In English, the word "and" is very flexible, and you can use it to combine
almost anything from clauses and verb phrases to noun phrases, adverbs and
adjectives.

In Japanese, you use 連体形 (~て、~で) to combine clauses and verb/adjectival
phrases, と or や to combine noun phrases.

In the example sentence, what is being combined isn't just (object) noun
phrases (ギター and 作曲) but also prepositional phrases "hanging off" them (14歳の頃に
and 17歳で). In English, "and" works fine for this:

> He begins guitar-playing around 14 and composition at 17

In Japanese, if it were just the object noun phrases, と or や would be possible

> ○ 14歳の頃にギターと作曲を始める

but with the prepositional phrases, this becomes unnatural

> ?? 14歳の頃にギターと、17歳で作曲を始める。

So the example sentence is "avoiding the problem" by simply listing the two
object+prepositional-phrase compounds next to each other

> [14歳の頃にギターを]、[17歳で作曲を]始める。

Whether you choose to interpret this as two clauses where the verb is dropped
from the first one, or one clause with two object+prepositional-phrase
compounds hanging off the main verb... I don't see any reason why one is
preferable to the other, but others might shed more light on that.

**Is this substandard/casual Japanese more appropriate to mixi than a
biographical snippet?**

On the contrary, I would say that it's slightly formal/written/newspaper-
language-like. In speech, I think people would tend to say

> 14歳の頃にギターを始めて、17歳で作曲を始める。




I think you're confusing multiple をs in a sentence with multiple をs in a
clause.

Multiple をs in a sentence is perfectly normal:

> 私がご飯を作っている間、彼女はテレビを見ていた

whereas multiple をs in a clause isn't:

> × 台風を気をつける

What makes your example sentence complicated is that it's not completely clear
whether there is one clause or two.

In English, the word "and" is very flexible, and you can use it to combine
almost anything from clauses and verb phrases to noun phrases, adverbs and
adjectives.

In Japanese, you use 連体形 (~て、~で) to combine clauses and verb/adjectival
phrases, と or や to combine noun phrases.

In the example sentence, what is being combined isn't just (object) noun
phrases (ギター and 作曲) but also prepositional phrases "hanging off" them (14歳の頃に
and 17歳で). In English, "and" works fine for this:

> He begins guitar-playing around 14 and composition at 17

In Japanese, if it were just the object noun phrases, と or や would be possible

> ○ 14歳の頃にギターと作曲を始める

but with the prepositional phrases, this becomes unnatural

> ?? 14歳の頃にギターと、17歳で作曲を始める。

So the example sentence is "avoiding the problem" by simply listing the two
object+prepositional-phrase compounds next to each other

> [14歳の頃にギターを]、[17歳で作曲を]始める。

Whether you choose to interpret this as two clauses where the verb is dropped
from the first one, or one clause with two object+prepositional-phrase
compounds hanging off the main verb... I don't see any reason why one is
preferable to the other, but others might shed more light on that.

**Is this substandard/casual Japanese more appropriate to mixi than a
biographical snippet?**

On the contrary, I would say that it's slightly formal/written/newspaper-
language-like. In speech, I think people would tend to say

> 14歳の頃にギターを始めて、17歳で作曲を始める。

