Grammar help

5 comments

1. I can’t explain exactly why, but when when using the verb 会う like this, you use the に particle. It’s as simple as that.

   Don’t quote me on this but I think と could also work.

   Sorry I can’t really answer your question

2. The formal explanation is that 会う is an intransitive verb that cannot take an object marked with を.

   Also, this question should probably have been in the daily thread.

3. 会う is intransitive verb in Japanese. And there are many more like to kiss, to bump into and so on.

   This can be a bit tricky. As a simple rule, you can consider if action is completely under your control or not. Like in case of throwing a ball, you just do it, but in case of mutual actions, you can’t do it without your partner doing the same. These mutual actions are typically intransitive in Japanese.

   And if you want to dig into more details, then it’s a bit more complex. Look at something like “to sit”. Generally sitting can be considered as a posture change alone, similar to lean/squat. In such case there is no any place/surface of sitting, it’s done by itself and this is why “to sit” is considered intransitive. But very often we sit on something, so we interact with objects and then such place takes に. This is quite important, because there are many actions that can interact with objects and speaking honestly, I don’t see such a big difference in the interaction itself between sitting on something, saddling something or maybe touching something. It’s roughly all the same. On the other hand transitive action like “to throw a ball” can’t be done without any object, we attach を to it and if we want to add any other interaction like “to throw a ball at (someone)”, then it’s going to be に again. Such way you can notice that very often there is a variation, either 0 or 1 objects(?) for intransitive verbs and either 1 or 2 objects for transitive verbs, where 1 is a common ground for both. This is why it’s tricky, both, intransitive with に and transitive with を, allow such element. And I don’t think there is a single rule for it. Typically there are something like 3:

   * If action can be done without it. Speaking honestly, I don’t think we can meet someone without meeting someone. This looks pretty much like a requirement for action to happen, and it’s a trait of transitive actions. But rather on the weaker side. Consider the difference between “I saw him”, “I chased him”, “I punched him”. In the first case there is ~0 influence, person might be not even aware about it. In the second case the influence is much stronger, and direct physical effect is usually considered as the strongest.
   * If action is always intentional. We can meet someone by accident, and accidental quality shifts it towards intransitive side. Consider bumping into someone and bumping someone.
   * If action is completely under out control. In case of meeting it’s not, which again shifts it towards intransitive side.

   Thus you can see we have a mix. There are some transitive qualities, but at the same time it also lacks or may lack some transitive qualities. Personally I would say that it’s closer to intransitive, but such nuances might differ in languages. Basically we talk about 3 possible variations. Meet someone accidentally, meet someone intentionally (make conditions for it) and make appointment and mutually perform it and all 3 situations are quite different. In Japanese, as far as I aware, there are 2 options. に会う if you move alone, and と会う if both people do it.

4. Meeting is not something you “do to” a person. It’s something both of you do. Being that they are not the object, you don’t use を.

5. The short answer is that you need to look up which particles go with each new verb you learn because even though there are patterns there are also a lot of exceptions

   Meaning, spelling, pronunciation, transitivity, ichidan/godan, particle use, example sentence