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According to [the entry in
jisho.org](http://jisho.org/word/%E6%8A%9C%E3%81%91%E3%82%8B) regarding the
verb 「抜ける」, it is an **intransitive verb**.

Now, in the song
[Departure](http://www.animelyrics.com/anime/hxh2011/departure.jis) by
Masatoshi Ono, we can see this:

> You just try again
>
> 闇を抜けて

Suggesting that it can be also used as a transitive verb. Is this true? Or is
the song "wrong", from a purely grammatical point of view? In this case, what
would be the correct (grammatical) way of saying "escape from the darkness"?
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grammar verbs particle-を transitivity
Is 「闇を抜けて」 grammatical?
Notably, 出{で}る is also "intransitive" and can take を -- 部屋{へや}を出{で}た → "I left
the room." :)

### The grammar, and important related concepts

The key difference to think about with Japanese "intransitives" is the
自{じ}動{どう}詞{し} categorization in Japanese grammars -- this term literally means
"self-moving word", and it indicates _not_ verbs that never take objects, but
rather verbs where the action is happening to / by / on the subject.

"Transitives" in Japanese are described as 他{た}動{どう}詞{し}, or "other-moving
word", where the action is happening to / by / on the object.

I put "intransitive" and "transitive" in quotes here, because the grammatical
distinctions described by the English and Japanese terms aren't perfect
matches. The English terms "intransitive" and "transitive" are often used more
to describe the **syntax** -- whether an object follows the verb, regardless
of whether the action of the verb actually does anything to that object. If I
say "I ate," many (most?) English grammarians would say that "ate" here is
_intransitive_ , because there is no object after the verb in the syntax of
this specific sentence.

Meanwhile, the Japanese terms 自{じ}動{どう}詞{し} and 他{た}動{どう}詞{し} are generally
used to describe the **semantics** -- whether the action of the verb does
anything to another object, or only to the subject. If I say 私{わたし}は食{た}べた,
Japanese grammarians would say that 食{た}べた here is a 他{た}動{どう}詞{し}, because
the action of the verb inherently implies an object -- when one "eats", one
eats _something_ , even if that something is left unstated.

### The verb 抜{ぬ}ける

My copy of Shogakukan's big 国語大辞典 gives the main sense of 抜ける as:

> 突き破って向こう側へ出る。  
>  Breaking out and exiting to the other side.

The action of "exiting" is something that is happening to / by the subject.
The を describes the thing being exited, and technically marks an object, but
again the object is _not_ being acted upon with this verb. In English, the
thing being exited _would_ be described as the "object", and the verb "exit"
in "to exit a room" _would_ be described as "transitive" since the verb has an
object right after it. However, the action of "exiting" is done to / by / on
the person or thing that is exiting, and _not_ to / by / on the room, so in
Japanese, the verb 抜ける is regarded as a 自{じ}動{どう}詞{し}.

### Generalizing

This difference in "intransitive / transitive" versus 自{じ}動{どう}詞{し} /
他{た}動{どう}詞{し} (essentially, "syntax vs. semantics") can cause a lot of
confusion. Once you figure this out, though, it becomes clear how you can have
sentences in Japanese like 道{みち}を行{い}く with an object marked by を, even though
行{い}く is listed in many (most?) dictionaries as "intransitive".
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