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In this sentence:

> ずっと落ち続けていれば固い石にも穴があく

Does it mean:

> "Even with a force as weak as of raindrops, by constant dripping a hard
> stone can also have a hole"

or does it mean:

> "Even with a force as weak as of raindrops, constant dripping can make a
> hole even on a hard stone"

I'm not sure how to interpret 穴があく. shouldn't it be 穴をあく?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-25T00:10:47.013
43840
2017-02-25T01:45:22.573
17515
question
meaning particle-が
Is が marking an object in this sentence?
「あく」 is intransitive. A hole forms by itself.

「あける」 is transitive. A person/thing makes a hole.

So, it is incorrect to say 「穴{あな} **を** あく」; It simply makes no sense.

It is only correct to say the two following forms:

> 「穴 **が** あく」("a hole forms") 「穴」 is the **subject**.
>
> 「穴 **を** あける」 ("to make a hole"). 「穴」 is the **object**.

You must, however, be careful in telling what the subject or object is when
the Japanese sentence has already been translated and presented to you. Many
J-learners, for some reason, tend to tell what the subject or object is by
looking at the translated sentence rather than by analyzing the original
Japanese. SE is no exception regarding this. I know that for sure as I do
answer quite a few questions.

In the phrase 「穴があく」, the subject is none other than 「穴」, which is why it is
followed by 「が」. To translate this, however, some might use " **(it) makes a
hole** ", involuntarily making 「穴」 look like the object. _**It is the object
only in that translation, not in the original**_.

> 「ずっと落{お}ち続{つづ}けていれば固{かた}い石{いし}にも穴{あな}があく。」,

thus means:

> "If (rain drops) keep falling for a very long time, **holes will form** even
> in the hard stones."

Needless to say, while 「あく」 is the dictionary form, it is used like the future
tense here.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-25T01:18:47.930
43843
2017-02-25T01:45:22.573
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
43840
answer