Many verbs in Japanese form transitive-intransitive pairs.
ドア が 閉まる to be closed
ドア を 閉める to close (something else)
Standard groups
Most verbs follow one of the following groups:
| group | intr. | trans. | intr. type | trans. type | Frequency | | --------- | ------- | ------- | ---------- | ----------- | --------- | | aru - eru | 上がれ | 上げる | 一段 | 一段 | 20% | | aru - u | 塞がる | 塞ぐ | 一段 | 五段 | 3% | | eru - su | 倒れる | 倒す | 一段 | 五段 | 15% | | u - asu | 沸く | 沸かす | 五段 | 五段 | 10% | | ru - su | 回る | 回す | 一段 | 五段 | 4% | | ru - seru | 乗る | 乗せる | 一段 | 一段 | 1% | | u - eru | 開く | 開ける | 五段 | 一段 | 16% | | eru - u | 焼ける | 焼く | 一段 | 五段 | 10% |
Warning
For the u - asu group, beware of る-ending 五段: 減る・ 減らす The u - eru and the eru - u are opposites.
imabi distinguishes between a couple more specific cases.
Hence general rules:
- a verb ending in す is transitive
- if it's got a s in the ending, it is most likely transitive
- a verb ending in aru is intransitive (with very few exceptions such as 包まる = to be wrapped)
- A verb ending in れる is intransitive.
Special groups
| Intransitive | Transitive | | ------------ | ---------- | | なる | する | | {入|はい}る | {入|い}れる | | {消|き}える | {消|け}す | | 終わる | 終える | | 聞こえる | 聞く | | 見える | 見る |
来年、２３歳になる Next year, I will become 23.
子供を医者にする I will turn my child into a doctor