Problem of particles (wo and wa/ga)

[TexMurphy01]

Hi there.

Okay, I'm having a problem with my particles - more specifically, when to use wa/ga and when to use 'wo' in certain situations.

I thought I had 'wo' understood. It follows the direct object of a verb if the verb has one. I know that 'ga' is used for certain things such as 'imasu', 'arimasu' and 'wakarimasu'. A sub question here (not my main question) is why is this, and is there a general rule for it?

Back to it. So I always thought that the direct object was, in the case of eating, the thing being eaten and, in the case of drinking, the thing being drunk. I assume this is still the case but, as I said, there is some confusion. So what, specifically, is this confusion?

Well, I was reading through a Japanese and it had the sentence 'Sushi ga tabetai desu'. So... I mean... so sushi isn't the direct object of the verb here? Then later on, in a different context I heard the phrase 'Anata wo shiritai'. Yeah... huh? How's that working then?

So basically I feel like I'm completely at a loss for what's going on. If someone out there has a nice and simple explanation for what's going on here, that would be great.

Thanks a lot.

 

[staren]

I will try and answer. Hopefully someone else more knowledgeable will give a better answer later

So both your example sentences uses -たい which means to want to do something. I want to eat sushi. I want to know you. Something like that.
And from what I know when you use the -たい conjugation, if you usually use を you can also use が instead.
If there is some difference in nuance I do not know.

 

[Toritoribe]

"Ga" usually indicates the subject, but also can indicate the object of some groups of verbs, including the -tai form as staren-san mentioned.

examples of verbs/adjectives that take "ga" as the object marker
state verbs; wakaru, iru(to need), dekiru,,,
potential forms/-tai forms; taberareru, tabetai,,,
adjectives(the ones which express emotion/sense); sukida, jouzuda, nikui, hitsuyouda,,,

As for "Anata wo shiritai", "Anata ga shiritai" is also OK, but "anata" could be misinterpreted as the subject of "shiritai". So, "anata wo" would be preferred over "anata ga".

 

[TexMurphy01]

Ah, this has been most informative guys. Thanks for your help.