"I don't know how to use honorific language."

敬語の使い方がわかりません。

"Do you know how to make a flight reservation?"

飛行機の予約のし方を知っていますか。

The above two sentences were taken from my homework -- which were graded by my
sensei, so these should be the correct translations. My question, however, is
why is it that in the first example,「が」is used, and in the second example,
「を」is used? Is it due to the fact that "わかりません" in this case is being used in
the form of an ability? (Potential forms use the が particle.)
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2014-03-14T04:09:50.207
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2021-01-04T23:32:17.790
2021-01-04T23:32:17.790
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question
particles particle-が particle-を
知る vs わかる and when to use が and を in "how to" questions
Though it's convenient to translate both わかる and 知る as "to know", they're a
bit different.

わかる is an intransitive verb, and it acts only indirectly on the thing being
known. Intransitive verbs tend to be paired with particle が.

知る, on the other hand, is a transitive verb, and it acts directly on the thing
being known. Transitive verbs mark direct objects with particle を.

So a more literal translation of your first sentence would be "(As for me),
the way to use honorific language is not understood." The translation of your
second sentence would basically remain unchanged.
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2014-03-14T04:24:14.397
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answer