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halfthishalfthat (Offline)
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Posts: 19
Join Date: Apr 2010
12-10-2010, 09:46 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxful View Post
By the way, masaegu san. Why is "要る" supported by particle "が" and not "を"?

For example: 僕はビザが要る。(I need a visa)
「要る」 does not directly translate to "to need" in English.

In English, "need" takes a direct object. In Japanese, it does not.

What do I need? I need a visa.
Here the answer to "what" is the direct object.

But you can't say "What do I 「要る」?"
This is because 「要る」 is more accurately translated as "to be needed", so whatever "is needed" would take the particle 「が」.

So here, you do not 「要る」 the visa, but the visa is the one doing the「要る」-ing. Haha, forgive my Japinglish but I hope that clears it up for you!

Last edited by halfthishalfthat : 12-10-2010 at 09:50 PM.
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