"が" or "を" with わかる

kyn

kyn

Senior Member
Hanoi, Vietnam
Vietnamese
With "わかる" (understand), do we always have to use "が" (N が わかる)? Sometimes I see "N を わかる". Is there a difference?
 
    • Correct usage is が.
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    Yes it is. If を is used, I would understand it is an ornate way to say appreciate (understand something and sympathize or value) something.

    In a similar vein with the comments I made for -ga/-o selection for V-rareru, at least one construction with wakaru requires -o instead of -ga. When benefactive expression is to follow wakaru, the postposition for the object noun is -o.
    E.g., 彼の境遇をわかってあげよう in sense of "We should understand his situation".
     
    「しかし、この暖かさを持った人間が地球さえ破壊するんだ！それをわかるんだよ！ アムロ！」

    シャア・アズナブル　:cool:
     
    (1) 彼の境遇をわかってあげよう

    (2) 「しかし、この暖かさを持った人間が地球さえ破壊するんだ！それをわかるんだよ！ アムロ！」

    (3) 魚の釣り方が生まれて初めてわかる。

    In (3), わかる　means 理解する. This feels the same as the Spanish "se VERB" form, like "entenderse". In English, you can't say "I understood myself about the grammar.", but it feels the same.

    In (2), here わかる means 　同情する、（心情的に）理解する、理解してやる. It doesn't feel "entenderse", "understand myself". (Please don't take it literally; it's meant as contrastive grammatical construction)

    (1) is the same as (2). 心情的に理解する. 同情する. 相手の立場を認めてやる.

    To summarize, if it's about intellectual perception, it takes が, but if it's about emotional understanding/sympathy, it takes を.

    （４）ひとのいたみを（が）わからない人間が増えているときく。

    You can choose either を or が. This has a reason. This is a quiz from me to you. Of course I know the answer.

    QUESTION: What is the reason that we can choose either を or が in Sentence (4)?

    I'll give you the answer if some of you have tried to answer.
     
    Well, I'll give it a try then:
    - ひとのいたみ を わからない人間が増えているときく。: people who have no sympathy with others' pain
    - ひとのいたみが わからない人間が増えているときく。: people who don't know about others' pain
     
    I cannot find a single authoritative source that says わかる can take を, although I've seen a few discussions where Japanese speakers disputed the subject. I'd like to see an academic source if one exists, no offense to Cheshire. :)

    If I'm not mistaken, most grammarians put わかる in a special class of "stative verbs" along with できる, 要る, いる, and ある. These all act on subjects (marked with が) and do not generally use the 〜ている form like punctual verbs do.
     
    kyn, I'll wait for another couple of tries before giving an answer.

    補足しておこう。

    を　わかる: 主体が客体に対して行う
    が　わかる:　客体が主体に対して行う

    ま、「好きになる」と「気に入る」の違いですね。
     
    In (3), わかる　means 理解する. This feels the same as the Spanish "se VERB" form, like "entenderse". In English, you can't say "I understood myself about the grammar.", but it feels the same.
    Click to expand...
    I'm sorry, but this doesn't work like that in Spanish. Entenderse means mainly people getting along: Mi padre y yo ya no nos entendemos. - My father and I don't get along anymore; literally: My father and I don't understand each other anymore.

    Jazyk
     
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