A2
Transitive and intransitive pairs
How Japanese pairs transitive and intransitive verbs, which particles each takes, and why the intransitive is so often preferred.
English uses one verb for both sides: I opened the door, the door opened. Japanese has two different verbs, and choosing the wrong one is immediately audible.
ドアを開けました。
Doa o akemashita.
I opened the door.
ドアが開きました。
Doa ga akimashita.
The door opened.
開ける takes an actor and を; 開く takes only the thing itself and が.
Common pairs
| transitive | intransitive | |
|---|---|---|
| 開ける | 開く | open |
| 閉める | 閉まる | close |
| 始める | 始まる | begin |
| 出す | 出る | take out / come out |
| 消す | 消える | turn off / go out |
| 入れる | 入る | put in / go in |
There is a rough pattern — す often marks the transitive, る the intransitive — but it is not reliable enough to lean on. These are learnt in pairs.
Japanese prefers the intransitive
Where English names an agent, Japanese frequently describes the event as simply occurring, and this is a matter of tone rather than grammar.
授業が始まりました。
Jugyō ga hajimarimashita.
Class has started.
Nobody started it. The same instinct is behind なる and behind so much of what makes translated English sound blunt to a Japanese ear.
With ている the difference sharpens
The intransitive plus ている gives a state; the transitive plus てある gives a state someone deliberately left behind.
窓が開いています。
Mado ga aite imasu.
The window is open.
窓を開いています。
窓を開けています。
開く is intransitive and cannot take を. With を the verb has to be 開ける — though 窓が開いています is what you would usually say, since the point is normally the state and not who caused it.