Part 4 · Actions and attitude · Lesson 39

Transitive and intransitive pairs: 開ける and 開く

Japanese has two verbs where English has one: one for someone opening something, one for something opening by itself. How to tell them apart, the particles each takes, and why ている and てある choose between them.

About 6 minutes to read

English uses one verb for both "I opened the door" and "the door opened". Japanese uses two different verbs.

	Transitive (someone does it)	Intransitive (it happens)
open	ドアを開ける	ドアが開く
close	ドアを閉める	ドアが閉まる

私わたしIがドアdoorを開あけたopened

I opened the door.

ドアdoorが開あいたopened

The door opened (by itself).

A transitive verb has someone doing it to something and takes を. An intransitive verb just happens and takes が with its subject.

Common pairs

Meaning	Intransitive (が)	Transitive (を)
open	開くあく	開けるあける
close	閉まるしまる	閉めるしめる
turn on	つく	つける
go out / turn off	消えるきえる	消すけす
begin	始まるはじまる	始めるはじめる
end	終わるおわる	終えるおえる
stop	止まるとまる	止めるとめる
move	動くうごく	動かすうごかす
enter / put in	入るはいる	入れるいれる
exit / put out	出るでる	出すだす
rise / raise	上がるあがる	上げるあげる
fall / drop	落ちるおちる	落とすおとす
break	壊れるこわれる	壊すこわす
split	割れるわれる	割るわる
change	変わるかわる	変えるかえる
be fixed / fix	直るなおる	直すなおす
wake / wake up	起きるおきる	起こすおこす
line up	並ぶならぶ	並べるならべる
gather	集まるあつまる	集めるあつめる
be decided / decide	決まるきまる	決めるきめる
be found / find	見つかるみつかる	見つけるみつける

Patterns in the pairs

There are common shapes. Intransitive often ends in 〜る/〜う/〜く where the transitive ends in 〜す/〜める/〜げる/〜ける:

〜る (が) ↔ 〜す (を): 落ちる/落とす, 壊れる/壊す, 直る/直す
〜まる (が) ↔ 〜める (を): 閉まる/閉める, 始まる/始める, 決まる/決める
〜る ↔ 〜ける: 開く/開ける, つく/つける

These are tendencies, not rules. Learn each pair as a unit, like 開く/開ける.

電気でんきlightを消けしたturned off

電気でんきlightが消きえたwent out

I turned off the light. / The light went out.

Why it matters: ている and てある

You met these in an earlier lesson. They use the two kinds of verb differently.

	Pattern	Meaning
ドアが開いている	intransitive + ている	the door is open (a plain state)
ドアが開けてある	transitive + てある	the door has been opened (someone did it, on purpose)

窓まどwindowが開あいているis open

窓まどwindowが開あけてあるhas been opened (and left)

The window is open. / The window has been left open (on purpose).

So 窓が開いている describes a state that just is; 窓が開けてある tells you someone arranged it.

Responsibility: transitive vs intransitive

Japanese speakers choose a verb to show whether a person is responsible. Intransitive can be a way to avoid blame or to talk about an accident:

財布さいふwalletが見みつからないcan't be found

I can't find my wallet. (Literally: my wallet isn't being found.)

花瓶かびんvaseが割われたbroke

The vase broke. (Not "I broke it.")

When someone does admit responsibility, the transitive appears:

私わたしIが花瓶かびんvaseを割わったbroke

I broke the vase.

Reading tip

If you see を with a verb, it's transitive, and someone is doing it. If you see が with a verb and no を, it's likely intransitive: it happens. When a verb surprises you, check whether its partner exists: 壊す (break something) has 壊れる (be broken).

Longer sentences

The right member of a pair tells you who did it. Compare how a story describes the same events.

朝あさmorning目めがeyes覚さめるとwhen I woke窓まどがwindow開あいていてwas open and机つくえの上うえのon the desk書類しょるいがdocuments床ゆかにon the floor落おちていたhad fallen

誰だれかがsomeone夜よるの間あいだにduring the night窓まどをwindow開あけたopenedのか(explaining)それともor風かぜでby windひとりでにby itself開あいたopenedのか(explaining)分わからないdon't know

When I woke up, the window was open and the papers from the desk had fallen on the floor. I don't know whether someone opened the window during the night or it opened by itself in the wind.

彼かれはheうっかりcarelessly花瓶かびんをvase落おとしてdropped and割わってしまったがbroke, but「割われた」と"it broke" (quote)言いってsaying自分じぶんのhis ownせいではfaultないようにas if it weren't振ふる舞まったbehaved

He carelessly dropped and broke the vase, but behaved as if it weren't his fault by saying "It broke."

Fixing things

夜中よなかにin the middle of the night突然とつぜんsuddenly電気でんきがlights消きえてwent out and驚おどろいたがwas startled, but調しらべてみるとwhen I checkedブレーカーがthe breaker落おちていたhad tripped

ブレーカーをthe breaker上あげてraised and電気でんきをlightsつけたらwhen I turned on今度こんどはthis time冷蔵庫れいぞうこがthe fridge止とまってhad stopped andいたのでsoもう一度いちどonce more動うごかしてgot it movingやったdid

In the middle of the night, the lights suddenly went out. I was startled, but when I checked, the breaker had tripped. I flipped the breaker back up and turned the lights on, and this time the fridge had stopped, so I got it running again.

Key points

Many verbs come in pairs: intransitive (が) and transitive (を).
Common sound patterns help, but learn each pair.
intransitive + ている: state; transitive + てある: deliberately arranged state.
Intransitive can express an accident or avoid blame.

Drill these patterns

Short example sentences for the points in this lesson: