道のどこを渡ってもいいですか。

[Damon89]

Hi,
I have a big doubt regarding this phrase. Unfortunately, I have no context to provide, as it is an isolated phrase from my textbook. It is rather simple, and I already know what it means, though, so it shouldn't be a problem.

道のどこを渡ってもいいですか。
Is it O.K. to cross the road at any place?

Now, as I already mentioned I know the meaning, as it is given in my textbook (which is in Italian, I translated, so if it sounds slightly awkward you know why). So you might be wondering what my doubt is. Here it goes: why is it どこ and not どこも? As far as I know, どこ means 'where?' and it is implicitly interrogative, while どこも means 'anywhere' (or 'nowhere', with a negative, but that doesn't apply here), which seems to me much more appropriate to the translation. So, the literal translation as I would do it (if I didn't know the right one beforehand) would be this:

Is it O.K. to cross the road where?

Which obviously doesn't make the slightest sense even to me. So, there's my doubt... why どこ instead of どこも?

P.S. I noticed that in some places the も gets postponed (as in どこへも行きません, for example), so I initially thought this would be the case here. But then I reasoned that the も present in this phrase is part of the sentence construction itself - that is, to say "is it possible to..." you have to end the sentence in 「もいいですか。」. So this is the reason I ruled out this hypothesis. Of course, if I'm wrong with this, please correct me and explain me why. =)

Thank you very much in advance.

 

[kenjoluma]

渡る is a transitive verb, which means it requires a direct object (something with を). And, yes, を can be omitted from time to time, but if you want to omit it, you have to 'entirely' omit it, you shouldn't add something like 'も'. And as you already know, を cannot be placed with も.

And どこ itself can indicate 'somewhere' or 'anywhere' in a declarative sentence.

Oh, both of へ and も are merely postpositions. Those two can combine together. Just like English words 'into' or 'onto' actually combined with two prepositions. But while へも is possible, もを or をも is impossible.

Therefore, you choose を, which is more important to declare its grammatical attribute, over も.

 

[kenjoluma]

Oh, just an add-up for my second sentence.

どこ can indicate 'anywhere'. Yes, but も is generally placed somewhere else.

どこを渡ってもいい

 

[rukiak]

Hi,
So, the literal translation as I would do it (if I didn't know the right one beforehand) would be this:

Is it O.K. to cross the road where?

Is it O.K. to cross anywhere of the road?

"どこを〜ても" ("〜" is a mark for omittion in Japanese) means wherever or anywhere.

There are also other forms like this:
いつ〜ても means whenever or anytime
どれを〜ても means whichever or anything
何を〜ても whatever or anything

cf.　どこへも in どこへも行きません means nowhere or "not anywhere".
何も in 何もいりません means nothing or "not anything".
_______________________________________________________________________________________
A sentense likeどこを渡ってもいいですか？　possibly makes someone confuse.

どこが渡れますか？　／　どこを渡れますか？　／　どこを渡ったらよろしいですか？　／　ここを渡ってもいいですか？
,wherein if passing the road is your aim, you purposely narrow down your choices and ask ここを渡ってもいいですか？ to wait and expect the opponent to admit your request or show you more choices.

These four sentences will cause less confusion.

In Japanese, as to the grammar, the place of object in question doesn't change from it in its declarative sentence. So you may have to take care of the letter just after the possibly interrogative word to distinguish whether it is wh-questions or not.

In case of が, it is a wh-question.

In case of を, where it is about this topic, possibly take any of the both type of question. But therefore, it will cause confusion and so avoid the form as どこを渡ってもいいですか, i.e. you most probably use one of 4 sentences I suggested above.

In case of でも;どこでも, it is not wh-question.


The same can be said for いつ、どれ、だれ and 何, though the condition after the possibly interrogative word is different respectively.
ex. 　ここは、いつでも渡れますか？ Is it ok to pass here whenever I want?
ここは、いつ渡れますか？　When can I pass here? --- In case of いつ, you can't use が and を after いつ.
　　ここは、いつ渡ってもいいですか？　You had better avoid using this Japanese. It could have double meaning like どこを渡ってもいいですか.

 

[Damon89]

I'm sorry for being late.

Thank you both very much (especially rukiak) for your answers, you made the problem much clearer! =)

 

[Flaminius]

Hi,

I have just realised what is wrong with the sentence. Well, it's not completely wrong but there is a more natural equivalent:
道のどこを渡ってもいいんですか。
Michi-no doko-o wattatte-mo īn desu-ka?

I cannot give a detailed account of why -n is inserted here but it is related the universal quantification (どこを [doko-o] bound by も [-mo]: where-ever [cross the street at all places]). A yes/no question sentence in this construction is quite natural without -n:
道の端を渡ってもいいですか。
Michi-no hashi-o watatte-mo ī desu-ka?
[Can I cross the street at the bottom?]