I’ve been trying to study this, and it has made much sense for me.
I under the general difference of は (topic marker) and が (subject marker)
But there’s been so much conflicting information.
I’d really appreciate someone to help me clear up some misconceptions or anything.
So, firstly I keep seeing that を+potential verb form is grammatically incorrect, but I’m also seeing a lot of people saying that it’s either interchangeable, not as commonly used compared to が, or there’s a small difference. Which is it?
My interpretation was that it provides a somewhat neutral statement, like that you can do something, but there’s no information extended onto it. But then I read that が provides the neutral statement.
Secondly, with が, I understand it marks the subject. And in this situation, it provides exhaustive listing, except I don’t really know what that means. So I understand that if I said ジョンさんが英語を話せる, this would be a situation where を is used, and it labels John as the subject, who is the one who can speak English, apart from anyone else. But again, how would this be grammatically correct if I can’t use を?
Though if it was like “ジョンさんは何言語を話せるか” and he responded with “日本語が話せる”, it would mean he can only speak English, opposed to other languages, right? Is this exhaustive listing?
But if this is the case, how can it be used in a neutral statement? How is が compared to を with potential form?
And は confuses me a lot. I understand it’s use is for comparison, so if I said something like “りんごは食べられる”, I thought it meant that specifically I eat the apple, but I can’t do much else to it. such as cooking or growing them?? But I read that this is wrong, and it expresses that it’s I can only eat apples, and not anything else. But I thought that was the function of が？
And I understand I can’t use は twice in a sentence, so I can’t say 私はりんごは食べられる, would I have to swap that は to a が or を ??
In what situations would I use は ?
I’d appreciate any help! This is something I keep making mistakes with, and I’ve tried searching for answers, but I keep finding conflicting information, or it’s just not understandable.
1 comment
Grammatically speaking, が should he used with potential. Since が creates a tight bond, it means that the specific action is possible.
肉が食べられます。I can eat meat.
This is also a neutral statement.
は provides contrast. This one thing can be done, as opposed to something else.
肉は食べられます。I can eat meat (but not fish).
It’s also one of the reasons why は is used in many negative statements.
魚は食べられません。I cannot eat fish (but I can eat something else).
Finally を is sometimes used by native speakers in some ways that would make a grammarian cry, but it’s used often enough that it’s an acceptable error in this case.
魚を食べられます。I can eat fish.
This might make it look like a passive construction while the が sentence would 100% not be read as passive.
魚を食べられましたから、私は魚が食べられません。The fish was eaten, so I cannot eat it.