が vs. に question.

nalo6451

Kouhai

19 Feb 2017

55

0

• 22 Feb 2018

• #1

Hi again guys.

I've come across a couple of phrases:

だれにいちばん会いたいですか。
どこにいちばん行きたいですか。

I'm wondering if が is interchangeable with に here. From my understanding it makes sense grammatically, but I don't know if their usage would be more appropriate in different circumstances. Please let me know if I'm wrong anywhere here.

Cheers.

 

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Moderator

Fifteen-year veteran

22 Feb 2008

18,266

4,926

• 22 Feb 2018

• #2

No. Your understanding is wrong (strictly speaking, が is grammatical but the meaning changes completely). Check again what the function of が is when associated with -tai form of verbs.

 

nalo6451

Kouhai

19 Feb 2017

55

0

• 22 Feb 2018

• Thread starter
• #3

hmm the only thing I found was that が is only interchangeable with を, and since を isn't appropriate here neither is が?

 

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Moderator

Fifteen-year veteran

22 Feb 2008

18,266

4,926

• 22 Feb 2018

• #4

Exactly. 会う and 行く are intransitive. だれ and どこ are the target, not the object, therefore indicated by に, not を. (Incidentally, だれ is the subject in だれがいちばん会いたいですか, thus, it means "Who does want to meet (someone)?".)