Wednesday, December 25, 2019

particle に - Why say "〜、皆には出来る。" instead of " 〜、皆は出来 る。" in this context?


The sentence in a translation:



将来を見据えながら点と点を結ぶということなど、皆にはできません。
While looking at the future, one cannot see how to connect the dots.



My assumption is that the following is the "base" sentence. Then, to add meaning, a is placed before the . Maybe it adds emphasis (or something)?




将来を見据えながら点と点を結ぶということなど、皆できません。



I don't think I've ever seen a and then have a placed behind it to add meaning.


However, if the "base" sentence should be thought of as:



将来を見据えながら点と点を結ぶということなど、皆できません。



Then I am ok with regard to particles. Placing a after a seems pretty common.



Answer




The に form is the "base" sentence here, and the は is added for emphasis.


One key to understanding how できる happens grammatically is that できる is often describing the thing that can be done, instead of the people or things doing the thing. Sometimes a closer gloss is doable rather than can -- English can describes the people or things doing the thing, while doable describes the thing that can be done.


In your sample sentence, the topic is こと, and all the stuff to the left of こと tells us what kind of こと it is. The できません applies to this こと -- this こと is not doable -- and the 皆 here tells us who or what this こと is not doable by.


Addendum


The grammar for できる is at least partially attributable to the historical development of the term. See this other post for details.


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