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My grammar textbook contains the problem sentence

> ある専門家のページによると、ありの巣は、初めは女王ありがたった一匹で【 】。
>
> １ 作るそうだ ２ 作ったそうだ  
>  ３ 作られるそうだ ４ 作られたそうだ

I chose the incorrect answer ３ 作られるそうだ. The correct answer is １ 作るそうだ, making
the sentence

> ある専門家のページによると、ありの巣は、初めは女王ありがたった一匹で【作るそうだ】。

I guess the queen ant makes the first nest. I am very confused by this
sentence.

  * What is the direct object of 作る?
  * Why is は used twice?
  * What does で mean in this sentence?

I think my question is not very clear because I am confused. Please feel free
to edit it.
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2018-05-17T08:38:07.580
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question
grammar
Confused by a Sentence Containing a 他動詞 without を
The direct object of 作る is ありの巣.

初めは means "at the beginning" and 一匹で means "by oneself".

を as a object marker can be changed to は as a topic maker or a contrastive
particle like 初めは女王ありがたった一匹でありの巣を作る can be rephrased as
ありの巣は、初めは女王ありがたった一匹でつくる.

If you want to change the sentence to passive form,
ありの巣は、初めは女王ありによってたった一匹で作られる.
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answer
> What is the direct object of 作る?

The direct object of 作る is ありの巣.

Subject = 女王アリが  
Direct Object = ありの巣を (を is replaced by は)  
Verb = 作る

> Why is は used twice?

The は in ありの巣は is the topic particle. This means ありの巣 is the topic/theme of
the sentence. When an object or subject is the topic, the object/subject
marker を/が is replaced by the topic particle は. (「XXを」→ ◎「XXは」×「XXをは」)  
The は in 初めは is the contrastive particle. It implies 女王ありがたった一匹でありの巣を作る occurs
only at the beginning, and other ants will build the nest later.

> What does で mean in this sentence?

The で indicates 動作の様態/状態, "manner of an action" or "in what manner an action
is performed". Here, it expresses that the action 「巣を作る」 is performed たった一匹で,
"alone" or "all by herself". Examples of the use of this で:

> 一人 **で** 買い物に行く -- go shopping alone  
>  家族みんな **で** 出かける -- go out with the whole family
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answer