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From what I understand, `は` is the topic marker, `が` is the subject marker,
and `を` is the object marker.

One of the first sentences I learned doesn't seem to fit the rules I described
above. The sentence is:

> わたしは日本語がわかります.  
>  watashi wa nihongo ga wakarimasu  
>  I topic Japanese subject understand  
>  'I understand Japanese.'

In this sentence, why does `日本語` have the subject marker attached to it?
Shouldn't `日本語` be the object of the sentence?
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2011-08-07T14:24:23.683
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grammar particles particle-を particle-が
Why is it 日本語がわかります instead of 日本語をわかります?
There is a class of Japanese verbs (and more generally, predicates) whose
subjects _and_ objects take が.[1] For example:

  * あの学生がその本が要る。( _Ano gakusei ga sono hon ga iru._ "That student needs your book.")
  * 猫が魚が好きだ。( _Neko ga sakana ga suki da._ "Cats like fish.")
  * 私が日本語が分かる。 ( _Watashi ga nihongo ga wakaru._ "I understand Japanese.")

(Of couse, these がs can be replaced with は, も, etc. depending on the
sentence.)

What is the difference between these verbs and verbs whose objects are marked
by を? Volition. From my textbook:

> These relate to conditions or occurences which come about apart from human
> decision, will, or volition, such as understanding, needing, or being able.

You cannot help understanding Japanese — you just do. Thus, 「日本語」 is not
something you are doing something to, and does not take を.

Edit: I should add that in modern colloquial Japanese, sometimes the object of
these verbs takes を, which changes the focus of the sentence a little. See [my
answer to this question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/609/the-
difference-between-and-with-the-potential-form-of-a-verb/614#614).

[1] My textbook ( _Japanese: The Spoken Language_ ) calls these "double-ga
predicates" or "affective predicates," contrasted with "operational
predicates." I am not sure what other names they go by.
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2011-08-07T19:32:47.373
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Because 分かる is an intransitive verb meaning "to be understood". If you wanted
to keep the structure as close as possible to the original, you could
literally translate 私は日本語がわかります as "regarding me, Japanese is understood".
But, as you may have noticed, English and Japanese seldom share the same
sentence structure; in English the same concept is expressed by the transitive
verb "understand", so you have "I understand Japanese".
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2011-08-07T20:19:53.603
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I found this interesting page about the etymology of 分かる

<http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1228751687>

According to this, 分かる, an archaic intransitive form of 分ける, meant (the
intransitive) "split" or "divide", similar to the modern 分かれる. And
figuratively also meant "be categorizable, be understood".

Eventually, the figurative meaning was the only one that survived, keeping its
intransitive syntax. Even when used in a forced transitive context the verb
would keep its intransitive form, e.g.

相手の気持ちを分かってあげてください

not

相手の気持ちを分けてあげてください ← WRONG!!
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2012-01-20T05:46:56.993
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Something I just noticed, while writing it.

I don't know why but in this case, it's not が but を

「やりたかったことをわかってくれる人」

I remembered then this question on SE and got confused but a native confirmed
me the を was correct (and not the が) here. Crazy japanese.
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2012-01-20T07:18:28.677
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"Understand" is a poor rendering of "分かる", because the English verb is base on
the transitive schema, where the agent performs an action on the target. 分かる
is grammatically intransitive. The syntax sits better if you translate 分かる as
"makes sense" with other parts (e.g. topic) providing context, e.g. it makes
sense to me.
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