93269
I'm currently learning Japanse, but then I stumbled upon a sentence in a
[dictionary](https://ejje.weblio.jp/sentence/content/%E8%A6%8B%E4%B8%8B%E3%82%8D%E3%81%9B%E3%82%8B)
その建物から町全体が見下ろせる which has the meaning: _" The building looks down on the whole
town"_

But I'm confused, isn't が a subject marker particle? Shouldn't を have been
used instead, which is an object marker particle?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-02T05:03:54.597
93262
2022-02-03T03:09:40.250
2022-02-02T06:10:25.430
43676
50435
question
japanese-to-english
Can anyone explain why the use of が not を in this sentence その建物から町全体が見下ろせる
You can parse that sentence like this:

> その建物から  
>  From that building
>
> 町全体が見下ろせる  
>  the entire town is overlook-able.  
>  the entire town can be overlooked.

So yes, 町全体 is indeed the subject of the sentence.

In general, potential form in Japanese work slightly different from English
potential expressions. Try reading `～が[verb](ら)れる` as "X is [verb]-able" or "X
can be [verb]ed" rather than "I can [verb] X".

Still, it's also fine to say その建物から町全体 **を** 見下ろせる. For details, please read
the following questions.

  * [The difference between が and を with the potential form of a verb](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/609/5010)
  * [Why is it 日本語がわかります instead of 日本語をわかります?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/2505/5010)
  * [The に particle and potential form](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/13323/5010)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-03T03:09:40.250
93269
2022-02-03T03:09:40.250
5010
93262
answer