62265
I'm reading this
[article](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10011666941000/k10011666941000.html)
and I have come across this sentence and I'm wondering why **が** is used
instead of を. What's the reason am I missing here?

> １１日、豊洲市場がオープンして競り **が** 始まりました。
>
> My translation:
>
> On the 11th, Toyosu Market has opened and started auctions.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-18T19:26:40.460
62260
2018-10-18T20:50:40.153
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
30339
question
grammar syntax particle-が particle-を transitivity
Expected sentence in article to use を but が is used instead
The act of auctioning has started.

The り ending nominalises the verb, thus the second clause subject is the act
of 競り (auctioning), not Toyosu Market .
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-18T19:40:26.097
62261
2018-10-18T19:40:26.097
4419
62260
answer
In addition to Kaizokugari's answer, I'd like to point out that 始【はじ】まりました is
an intransitive verb -- it cannot take an object marked with を. This verb
means that _"something starts on its own"_. The "something" here would be the
subject of the verb, and thus it takes the subject-marking particle が.

To break it down, your sample sentence in Japanese is a compound sentence.

> １１日、豊洲市場がオープンして競りが始まりました。

We could split this up into its component sentences:

> １１日、豊洲市場がオープンしました。  
>  The Toyosu market opened on the 11th.
>
> 競りが始まりました。  
>  Auctioning began.

Dividing it up into separate sentences like this doesn't sound very natural,
but it can help when trying to parse longer texts.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-18T20:22:40.110
62265
2018-10-18T20:22:40.110
5229
62260
answer
I think the important difference to note here is between the two verbs 始まる and
始める:

  * 始まる is an intransitive verb. It means that "something starts".

  * 始める is a transitive verb. It means that "somebody starts something".

Furthermore, note that the particle "を" often marks the direct object of a
verb, and the particle "が" often marks the subject of a verb.

In your sentence, the 競り "has started" (始まりました), which means that 競り is the
subject, therefore it uses が.

Hypothetically, if the sentence was phrased differently and "somebody" was
starting the 競り, then you might use が to mark the "somebody", and を to mark
the "something" (the 競り), and you would use the verb 始める instead of 始まる。
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-18T20:30:32.213
62266
2018-10-18T20:36:42.840
2018-10-18T20:36:42.840
25859
25859
62260
answer