Distinction of using を/に instead of が


> さあ次もビーチバレーという名のウォッチング[に]勤しむぜ！- Ok, next, lets endeavor to watch beach
> volleyball !
>
> それにしても、人間世界はじつに物[に]あふれておるな。- That being said, the world of humans is
> actually overflowing with things (this one in particular に over が just feels
> strange)
>
>
> [私は他動詞の使い方[を]本から教わった](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/329/passive-
> transitive-verb-vs-intransitive-
> verb-%e4%bb%96%e5%8b%95%e8%a9%9e%e3%81%ae%e5%8f%97%e3%81%91%e8%ba%ab-
> vs-%e8%87%aa%e5%8b%95%e8%a9%9e?noredirect=1&lq=1)- I learned about
> transitive verbs from a book
>
> 我が豪腕[に]奪えぬ物は無し！ - There's nothing my strong arm can't steal! (transitive
> verb for this one)

While trying to do some research I found the 3rd* sentence which feels like
it's a similar use case but with を instead.

If I were forced to produce Japanese from the above English sentences, I would
default to [が] in all of those brackets if I used that sentence structure. At
the same time I feel like I can only interpret those sentences as if [が] were
in the [] instead of [を/に]. At a glance it doesn't seem grammatically
incorrect, but I don't know what meaning I am sacrificing by doing so.

Yet at the same time for something like this

> だから、もっと素直に私[に]甘えて…… - listen, be honest more honest and depend on me

In this case [が] would feel strange to me but there doesn't seem to be
anything fundamentally different between 私[に]甘えて and ウォッチング[に]勤しむ / 物[に]あふれて

* * *

I have read [Difference between に and が for intransitive
verbs](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/5472/difference-
between-%e3%81%ab-and-%e3%81%8c-for-intransitive-verbs?rq=1), but i don't
think my issues boil down to false” transitive-intransitive pairs.

I would appreciate any clarification, thank you.




Each instance appears to come down to the particulars of each verb, so let's
look at those in turn.

### 勤【いそ】しむ

  * To work towards something, to endeavor to do something, to make oneself busy at something

This is listed as a 自動詞 in dictionaries. As such, whatever is marked as が for
this verb would be the grammatical subject -- the agent performing the action
of the verb. Since ウォッチング​ **[が]【●】** ​勤しむ would mean that the _watching_ was
_endeavoring_ , and since that doesn't make any sense, we know that we can't
use the が here.

As for why to use に instead, it might be helpful to think of the action of the
verb from an English perspective: one _endeavors **to** do something_, or
_works **toward** something_, etc. In a similar way, 勤しむ describes an action
_towards_ a particular goal, so the goal takes the particle に in much the same
way as a destination takes に with the verb 行【い】く.

### 溢【あふ】れる

  * To overflow, to be full of

Much as with the English verb _overflow_ , the Japanese verb 溢【あふ】れる can
describe **either** the action of a thing, or the state of another thing that
contains the first thing.

For instance, we can say that _water **overflows** from a cup_. Since we are
using the verb to describe the water, we use が after the 水【みず】:

  * カップから水​ **[が]【●】** ​溢れる

Alternatively, we can say that _the cup **overflows** with water_. In this
case, we are using the verb to describe the cup, so we use が after the カップ.
Moreover, the water is _causing_ the cup to overflow, so we use に after the
水【みず】 to mark that cause, similar to passive verbs where に is used to indicate
the causal agent:

  * カップ​ **[が]【●】** ​水​ **[に]【●】** ​溢れる

### 教【おそ】わる

  * To be taught something, to learn something

Etymologically, this verb could be viewed as the passive form of 教【おし】える, _to
teach something_ → _to be taught something_ , and thus by extension, _to learn
something_. That said, it is still a 他動詞, and thus it can take an object
marked with を.

If we were to say 使い方​ **[が]【●】** ​教わった, it would mean that the _way of using
something_ had _been taught_ or _learned_ something. This again doesn't make
any sense -- what we want to say instead is that _**I** learned how to use
something_. Much as in this English sentence, the _I_ is the subject, and the
_how to use something_ is the object -- so in Japanese, we mark the subject
with が (or optionally は, depending on context, etc.) and we mark the direct
object with を:

  * 私​ **[が]【●】** ​使い方​ **[を]【●】** ​教わった

### 奪【うば】える

  * To be able to be stolen or taken by force

This is a potential verb, and these work differently. They essentially
describe a quality of a thing as _being`[VERB]`-able_. 分かる functions in a
similar way -- it describes something as _being understandable_ , which is why
we say 何々​ **[が]【●】** ​分かる, marking the thing as the subject in Japanese. This
construction is puzzling when translated, as English uses transitive verbs in
these cases, much like _understand_ or _like_.

Your sample sentence describes the 物 as 奪えぬ or _being unstealable_. In
English, if we called something _unstealable_ and wanted to explain that in
relation to who might try to steal it, we would say it is _unstealable **by**
someone_. In Japanese, we again use に to mark the agent, similar to 溢れる above
and similar to passive constructions. If we marked the 腕 with が, we would
instead be saying that the 腕 themselves are _unstealable_ -- which might still
be the case, but it sounds a little funny and it definitely changes the
meaning. :)




Each instance appears to come down to the particulars of each verb, so let's
look at those in turn.

### 勤【いそ】しむ

  * To work towards something, to endeavor to do something, to make oneself busy at something

This is listed as a 自動詞 in dictionaries. As such, whatever is marked as が for
this verb would be the grammatical subject -- the agent performing the action
of the verb. Since ウォッチング​ **[が]【●】** ​勤しむ would mean that the _watching_ was
_endeavoring_ , and since that doesn't make any sense, we know that we can't
use the が here.

As for why to use に instead, it might be helpful to think of the action of the
verb from an English perspective: one _endeavors **to** do something_, or
_works **toward** something_, etc. In a similar way, 勤しむ describes an action
_towards_ a particular goal, so the goal takes the particle に in much the same
way as a destination takes に with the verb 行【い】く.

### 溢【あふ】れる

  * To overflow, to be full of

Much as with the English verb _overflow_ , the Japanese verb 溢【あふ】れる can
describe **either** the action of a thing, or the state of another thing that
contains the first thing.

For instance, we can say that _water **overflows** from a cup_. Since we are
using the verb to describe the water, we use が after the 水【みず】:

  * カップから水​ **[が]【●】** ​溢れる

Alternatively, we can say that _the cup **overflows** with water_. In this
case, we are using the verb to describe the cup, so we use が after the カップ.
Moreover, the water is _causing_ the cup to overflow, so we use に after the
水【みず】 to mark that cause, similar to passive verbs where に is used to indicate
the causal agent:

  * カップ​ **[が]【●】** ​水​ **[に]【●】** ​溢れる

### 教【おそ】わる

  * To be taught something, to learn something

Etymologically, this verb could be viewed as the passive form of 教【おし】える, _to
teach something_ → _to be taught something_ , and thus by extension, _to learn
something_. That said, it is still a 他動詞, and thus it can take an object
marked with を.

If we were to say 使い方​ **[が]【●】** ​教わった, it would mean that the _way of using
something_ had _been taught_ or _learned_ something. This again doesn't make
any sense -- what we want to say instead is that _**I** learned how to use
something_. Much as in this English sentence, the _I_ is the subject, and the
_how to use something_ is the object -- so in Japanese, we mark the subject
with が (or optionally は, depending on context, etc.) and we mark the direct
object with を:

  * 私​ **[が]【●】** ​使い方​ **[を]【●】** ​教わった

### 奪【うば】える

  * To be able to be stolen or taken by force

This is a potential verb, and these work differently. They essentially
describe a quality of a thing as _being`[VERB]`-able_. 分かる functions in a
similar way -- it describes something as _being understandable_ , which is why
we say 何々​ **[が]【●】** ​分かる, marking the thing as the subject in Japanese. This
construction is puzzling when translated, as English uses transitive verbs in
these cases, much like _understand_ or _like_.

Your sample sentence describes the 物 as 奪えぬ or _being unstealable_. In
English, if we called something _unstealable_ and wanted to explain that in
relation to who might try to steal it, we would say it is _unstealable **by**
someone_. In Japanese, we again use に to mark the agent, similar to 溢れる above
and similar to passive constructions. If we marked the 腕 with が, we would
instead be saying that the 腕 themselves are _unstealable_ -- which might still
be the case, but it sounds a little funny and it definitely changes the
meaning. :)

