を (2)

Particle (Basic ㊦ 349)

A particle which indicates a space in/on/across/through/along which someone or something moves.

Equivalent: In; on; across; through; along; over

私は五番街を歩いた・歩きました。
I walked along Fifth Avenue.
公園を通って帰りましょう。
Let's go home passing through the park.
鶴が湖の上を飛んでいます。
Cranes are flying over the lake.
日本では車は道の左側を走ります。
In Japan they drive on the left side of the street.
そこの交差点を右に曲がって下さい。
Please turn to the right at the intersection there.

Notes

When a sentence involves the verb 登る 'climb', there is an important difference between the use of the particle を and that of に, as seen in (1).

【Related Expression】

The particle で1 also marks the space in wmch an action takes place. The difference between で1 and を is that で1 can be used with any action verb, while を can be used only with motion verbs such as 歩く 'walk', 走る 'run', 飛ぶ 'fly' and 泳ぐ 'swim'. Thus, を is ungrammatical in [1].

[1]

When either で1 or を is possible, as in [2], there is usually a subtle difference between them.

[2]

First, when で1 is used, other locations for an action are also implied, but when を is used, there are no such implications. For example, in [3] John has a choice between a pool and the river. Here, で1 is acceptable, but を is not.

[3]

Second, when で1 is used, the sentence often indicates that the purpose of the action is the action itselt, whereas when を is used it seems that there is another purpose behind the action. For example, in [4] John swam in order to escape, and swimming was not the purpose of his action. Therefore, を is acceptable but で1 is not.

[4]