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I learnt that in Japanese, the の preposition is used to describe the direction
of a place (up, down, right, left, next to, etc. For example:

  * **部屋の中** (heya no naka): Inside the room.

  * **テーブルの上** (te-buru no ue): On the table.

But then I listened to a conversation that contains a sentence which I believe
is written like this:

  * **あの 信号 をひだりへ 曲がってください** (ano shingou o hidari e magatte kudasai): Please turn at that signal

In this case を is being used instead of の.

Is it just a mistake in the above sentence or did I not hear it right?
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2020-06-08T04:49:35.883
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2020-06-09T05:19:02.833
2020-06-09T05:19:02.833
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question
grammar particle-を
Usage of の vs を for the direction of a place
> ［あの信号を］［ひだりへ］曲がってください。

あの信号を continues to 曲がってください, not to ひだりへ. (I mean, it's not 「あの信号の/をひだり」.)
あの信号を and ひだりへ both modify verb 曲がる.

> あの信号 **を** 曲がる make a turn at that signal  
>  あの信号 **を** ひだりへ曲がる _lit._ make a turn to the left at that signal → turn
> left at that signal

曲がる is an intransitive verb. Noun+を used with intransitive motion verbs, such
as 歩く, 行く, 出る, 飛ぶ, 進む etc., can indicate the place of an action, the direction
of a movement, or the point of departure, etc.

For more on this を, you could refer to:

  * [Explain how 向{む}く "to face" can take "上{うえ}" as a direct object using を?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/15221/9831)
  * [Making sense of transitive usage of 行く and 来る - 「を行く」 and 「を来る」](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/3243/9831)
  * [この道をまっすぐ行ってください。 Why を and not で?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/6869/9831)
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2020-06-08T05:45:50.313
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2020-06-08T06:06:30.950
2020-06-08T06:06:30.950
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answer
Mainly の is used for the possessiveness. Exact meaning in english is "of" or
"belongs to".

In the case of を it's a object marking particle.

For the direction purposes, normally に へ で are used respectively. Other
particles are very rarely used.
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2020-06-08T18:37:45.290
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2020-06-08T18:37:45.290
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answer