せんせいにきく

Hi guys.

So I'm on a question asking me to turn the phrase "ask the teacher" into "lets ask the teacher" using ましょう at the end. Would this be "せんせいにくましょう"? Also, why is the particle に instead of を used in this instance?

Thanks friends.

What does your textbook say about conjugating きく?

を isn't used there because the teacher isn't the direct object of the verb.

May I ask what materials you are learning from? Do you have a proper textbook that contains explanations and examples?

Genki 1. I figured out the conjugation part (ききましょう), though I don't understand why を is unacceptable as a particle here. My understanding of a direct object is that it is a noun (or pronoun) which receives a verb acted upon/towards it. In this case, the verb is the asking of a question which is directed towards a teacher (a noun).

I should also add that up until this point in Genki the only two uses of に illustrated are as follows:
1) The goal towards which things move, and
2) The time at which an event takes place.

For example:
1) わたしはきようがっこうにいきません。
2) にちようびにきょうとにいきます。

Edit 2:

Okay I lied there's one more, and I think this is where my gap in knowledge lies. Unfortunately it's not explained extensively in the book. The topic is headed "XがYあります". It provides several examples using this framework (one such example: あそこにmcdonaldsがあります.

Here it says "notice how it calls for the particle に instead of で for the place of description." This is as far as it explains. Perhaps therein lies my problem?

PS sorry for typos I'm super tired right now so ima sleep. thanks for help.

The direct object of "ask" is not the teacher, but the question. The teacher is the indirect object (the one that receives the direct object as a side effect of the verb).

It's exactly like you wrote yourself: the question is directed towards the teacher, and に is used to mark the goal of that direction. Hence the teacher is marked with に, not を.

At some point during your Japanese studies, if you such with it and fund yourself making meaningful progress, you will suddenly realize that you have also expanded your understanding and awareness of English grammar as well.

Sometimes when you have trouble grokking a new point in Japanese, the reason perversely is that you haven't given enough thought to just exactly what it is you're saying in English.

Yeah this is my first time coming across such a situation (particularly, not knowing that the 'direct object' was the question, and what exactly defined a direct object - I had to go look it up after you mentioned the teacher wasn't the direct object). As you allude to, most of us native English speakers really don't give a lot of thought to what we say, just due to the fact that it's our native language. It's very interesting to say the least, and am looking forward to similar challenges.

Thanks again for your help guys.