One of the most consistent sources of confusion for English-speaking Japanese learners: transitive and intransitive verb pairs. Japanese has verbs that come in pairs — 開ける (to open something) and 開く (to open by itself). Use the wrong one and your sentence says something completely different. Here’s how to master this system once and for all.
| Feature | Transitive (他動詞) | Intransitive (自動詞) |
|---|---|---|
| What happens | Someone does an action TO an object | Something changes state by itself |
| Particle | を (object marker) | が (subject marker) |
| Example pair | 開ける (akeru) — to open (something) | 開く (aku) — to open (by itself) |
| Example sentence | 私がドアを開ける。(I open the door.) | ドアが開く。(The door opens.) |
What Are Transitive and Intransitive Verbs?
Yuka「他動詞」は誰かがものに働きかける動詞。「〜を〜する」の形。「自動詞」はものが自然に変化する動詞。「〜が〜する」の形。英語より日本語のほうが「意図があるか」を動詞で明確に区別するよ！
(‘Transitive’ (他動詞) means someone acts ON something — を pattern. ‘Intransitive’ (自動詞) means something changes on its own — が pattern. Japanese distinguishes intentional action vs natural change more explicitly than English!)
Common Transitive/Intransitive Verb Pairs
| Transitive (他動詞) | Meaning | Intransitive (自動詞) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 開ける (akeru) | to open (something) | 開く (aku) | to open (by itself) |
| 閉める (shimeru) | to close (something) | 閉まる (shimaru) | to close (by itself) |
| 入れる (ireru) | to put in | 入る (hairu) | to go in / enter |
| 出す (dasu) | to take out | 出る (deru) | to come out / leave |
| 起こす (okosu) | to wake (someone) up | 起きる (okiru) | to wake up |
| 落とす (otosu) | to drop (something) | 落ちる (ochiru) | to fall |
| 始める (hajimeru) | to begin (something) | 始まる (hajimaru) | to begin (by itself) |
| 止める (tomeru) | to stop (something) | 止まる (tomaru) | to stop (by itself) |
Yukaペアを覚えるコツは「〜ける/〜く」「〜める/〜まる」のような形のパターンに注目すること！でも例外も多いから、よく使うペアから少しずつ覚えていこう。
(A tip: look at the form patterns — 〜ける/〜く, 〜める/〜まる. But there are exceptions, so memorize the most common pairs first!)
The Particle Tells You Everything
| Sentence | Verb | Particle | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 私がドアを開けた。 | 開ける (transitive) | ドアを | I opened the door (I did it) |
| ドアが開いた。 | 開く (intransitive) | ドアが | The door opened (by itself) |
| 彼が窓を閉めた。 | 閉める (transitive) | 窓を | He closed the window |
| 窓が閉まった。 | 閉まる (intransitive) | 窓が | The window closed (by itself) |
Rei「ドアを開く」は間違い！「開く」は自動詞だから「ドアが開く」が正しい。「ドアを開ける」（他動詞）なら「を」でOK！粒子が動詞のタイプを決定づけるよ。
(‘ドアを開く’ is WRONG! 開く is intransitive, so it must be ‘ドアが開く.’ If you use transitive 開ける, then ‘ドアを開ける’ is correct. The particle signals which verb type to use.)
てある vs ている: A Transitive/Intransitive Application
てある and ている work differently with transitive and intransitive verbs:
| Pattern | Verb type | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 〜ている | Intransitive | Something is in a state (natural) | ドアが開いている。(The door is open.) |
| 〜てある | Transitive | Something was done (by someone) and remains | ドアが開けてある。(The door has been opened and left open.) |
Quick Quiz
1. ‘The meeting started.’ — transitive or intransitive verb?
→ Intransitive: 会議が始まった。 — the meeting started by itself.
2. ‘I started the meeting.’ — transitive or intransitive?
→ Transitive: 私が会議を始めた。 — I acted on the meeting.
3. ‘My keys fell.’ — which verb — 落とす or 落ちる?
→ 落ちた — intransitive, the keys fell on their own. (落とした = you dropped them intentionally.)
Which pair trips you up most? Ask in the comments! 💬
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