If the use of 「を」 and 「が」 is annoying, read this:「が」の使い方 (３)

読書の秋 (どくしょのあき): How about reading, because fall is best for reading in Japan.

「本(ほん)を読む(よむ)。」 is to read a book.

「今本(いまほん)を読んで(よんで)いる。」I’m reading a book now.

が can’t be used in this sentence.

No good: 本(ほん)が読む(よむ)。

実りの秋 (みのりのあき): Various fruits are available in fall.

However, when you say, “I want to read a book,” が appears suddenly.

「本(ほん)が読みたい(よみたい)。」 I want to read a book.

「本(ほん)を読みたい(よみたい)。」 I want to read book.

Both are used, correct, and almost have the same meaning. Then what’s the difference?

I’d like to discuss the close use of が and を hereunder.

The following five patterns are maybe confusing.

1. ~がしたい、~をしたい

2. ~ができる、~をできる

3. ~が好き(すき)、~が嫌い(きらい)、~(～)を好き(すき)、~を嫌い(きらい)

4. ~が見える(みえる)、~(～)が聞こえる(きこえる)

5. ~が~（し）にくい、~が~（し）やすい

銀杏の木 (ぎんなんのき): We're in the season of gingko nuts.

「が」 is used to show the object of particular intransitive verbs, adjectives, or nouns as mentioned above.

1. ~がしたい、~をしたい

This is the form showing that you hope, wish or want to do something.

「本(ほん)が読みたい(よみたい)。」 I want to read a book.

「本(ほん)を読みたい(よみたい)。」 I want to read book.

The above two sentences can be used, correct and almost have the same meaning. The structure is different.

「本が読みたい」＝「本が」＋「読みたい」

This sentence shows that what you want to read is a book.

「本を読みたい」＝「本を読み」＋「たい」

This sentence shows that what you want to do is to read a book.

月とウサギ: Japanese people see a rabbit in the moon.

「彼(かれ)の歌(うた)が聞き(きき)たくない。」 I don’t want to listen to his song.

＝「彼(かれ)の」＋「歌(うた)が」＋「聞きたく(ききたく)ない」

What I don’t want to listen to is his song.

「彼(かれ)の歌(うた)を聞き(きき)たくない。」 I don’t want to listen to his song.

＝「彼(かれ)の」＋「歌(うた)を聞き(きき)」＋「たくない」

What I don’t want to do is to listen to his song.

2. ~ができる、~をできる

This expression is used to mean that someone is able to do or good at something.

「彼女(かのじょ)は日本語(にほんご)ができる。」 She understands the Japanese.

「彼女(かのじょ)は日本語(にほんご)をできる。」 She understands the Japanese.

Grammatically speaking, the use of を is NOT CORRECT in this sentence because を is used to show the object of a transitive verb. However, できる is an intransitive verb. In that case, the use of が is correct. Still, を is popularly used for this context.

It's good to drive in the crimson foliage 紅葉 (こうよう).

「彼女(かのじょ)は車(くるま)が運転(うんてん)できる。」 She can drive a car.

「彼女(かのじょ)は車(くるま)を運転(うんてん)できる。」 She can drive a car.

As mentioned above, the use of を is grammatically incorrect but is popularly used.

「車(くるま)を運転(うんてん)する」 is correct but 「車(くるま)が運転(うんてん)する」 isn’t because 運転する is a transitive verb and が can’t be used for it.

When 運転(うんてん)する is modified to 運転(うんてん)できる, it has become an intransitive verb. Then が should be used to show its object. を is the incorrect use which is used popularly.

3. ~が好き(すき)、~が嫌い(きらい)、~を好き(すき)、~を嫌い(きらい)

This form is used to mean that you like 好き(すき)or dislike 嫌い(きらい)something or someone.

言葉はいらない（ことばは いらない）

「君(きみ)が好き(すき)。」 I love you.

「君(きみ)を好き(すき)。」 I love you.

Both are used in the same way but the use of を is not grammatically correct. Because 好き(すき) is a noun, を can’t be used to show the object of a noun, but が can.

The same logic applies to 嫌い(きらい) or 嫌(いや).

「彼女(かのじょ)はあの男(おとこ)が嫌い(きらい)だ。」 She doesn’t like that guy.

「彼女(かのじょ)はあの男(おとこ)を嫌い(きらい)だ。」 She doesn’t like that guy.

秋晴れと富士 (あきばれと ふじ): A clear fall sky and Mr. Fuji

「学校(がっこう)の勉強(べんきょう)が嫌(いや)になった。」 I got to hate school work.

「学校(がっこう)の勉強(べんきょう)を嫌(いや)になった。」 I got to hate school work.

4. ~が見える(みえる)、~が聞こえる(きこえる)

This form is used to mean ‘I (can) see’ or ‘I (can) hear’ something. From a grammatical point of view, maybe it should rather be ‘something can be seen or heard.’

Note that を can’t be used in these expressions.

見える(みえる) and 聞こえる(きこえる) are intransitive verbs.

満天の星 (まんてんの ほし): The sky full of stars

「星が見える。」 I can see the stars.

「星を見える。」 NG

「彼女(かのじょ)が歩いて(あるいて)いるのが見える(みえる)。」 I can see her walk.

「彼女(かのじょ)が歩いて(あるいて)いるのを見える(みえる)。」 NG

「目(め)が見えない(みえない)。」 I can’t see anything.

「目(め)を見えない(みえない)。」 NG

5. ~が~（し）にくい、~が~（し）やすい

This form is used to mean something is hard or easy to do.

As にくい and やすい is adjectives, the use of を to show the object of an adjective is not correct but it is popularly used.

秋刀魚 (サンマ): It's maybe called saury. Fall is also the season for sauries. 秋刀魚 literally means a fish of fall and a sword--a sword-shaped fish in fall.

「机(つくえ)が無い(ない)と字(じ)が書きにくい(かきにくい)。」 It’s hard to write without a desk.

「机(つくえ)が無い(ない)と字(じ)を書きにくい(かきにくい)。」 It’s hard to write without a desk.

「この台所(だいどころ)は料理(りょうり)がし易い(やすい)。」 This kitchen is easy to cook in.

「この台所(だいどころ)は料理(りょうり)をし易い(しやすい)。」 This kitchen is easy to cook in.

I hope this would be of any help to you understanding the use of が and を.

In the next article, I'll come back to the difference between が and は again and finish discussing が.