Transitive and intransitive verbs

Verbs in Japanese can be neatly divided into two categories: transitive and intransitive.

Transitive verbs involve a subject directly acting on an object, whereas intransitive verbs show that a subject has been acted upon1, but not by what.

If you have received a proper and formal education in the English language from the English schooling system, like I have, you have most likely never been taught what the subject or object of a sentence are, or have completely forgotten (unlike, say, your average Dutchman - who tends to acquire an undergrad level English linguistics degree in all that free time one has from ages 6-8).

Take the sentence, "I see the dog". I am the subject, the thing that a statement is being made about. the dog is the object, the thing that the subject is acting on. see is a transitive verb, the action that the subject is doing to the object.

English is a lot less clear cut as it has a load more than just two levels of transitivity, with verbs being able to be both transitive and intransitive based on context (I read all afternoon - intransitive. I read a book - transitive) or take more than one object 2. But, to provide some examples3 in a language I would hope at this point in the article you already understand:

Intransitive

  • Rivers flow

  • I sneezed

  • My dog ran

  • You've grown

Transitive

  • You will need a pen - You (subject) will be the one performing the action of needing (verb) a pen (object)

  • I took off my hat - I (subject) will be the one taking off (verb) my hat (object).

Going back to Japanese, if you've grinded vocab you've probably come across two versions of a lot of verbs. Typically these are the exact same, just with different kana after the kanji root. If you guessed that one of these is transitive and the other is intransitive, you'd be wrong! It's the other way around.

The real bastard, and why I am making this article in the first place, is remembering which way around they are. Thankfully you do not have to learn each one individually, as there is a pattern4.

The pattern

Generally, if one verb rhymes/ends with the ある sound (がる、まる、etc) and the other with the える sound (げる、める、etc), ある is intransitive and える is transitive.

Additionally, when one ends with える and the other with す or せる, える is the intransitive one and す・せる is the transitive one. You can try to remember this by thinking する (to do) is transitive.

If all else fails (and you are not writing something yourself), if the verb is preceded by を it's most likely5 transitive, and if it's preceded by が it's most likely intransitive.

Examples

  • 皆さんが集まる - みんなさんがあつまる - Everyone gathered (intransitive)

  • 私は皆さんを集める - わたしはみんなさんをあつめる - I gathered everyone (transitive)

  • ドアを開ける - どあをあける - (Someone) opens the door (transitive)

  • ドアが開く - どあがひらく - The door opens (intransitive)

Sidenote on the kanji

The kanji for "transitive verb" is 他動詞 (たどうし - other verb) and the kanji for "intransitive verb" is 自動詞 (じどうし - automatic/self verb).

This kind of makes sense. Nifty eh?

Further reading:

  1. Irritatingly for the purposes of learning, while being called a subject here, they feel more like objects as they are being affected by an action rather than the thing causing it. For grammar purposes however, they are treated like the subject (for example, they use the subject marker particle が instead of the direct object particle を)↩
  2. do not google ditransitive verbs before bed lest ye have nightmares↩
  3. Shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia. These are a pain to come up with yourself because so many verbs in English can be both transitive and intransitive.↩
  4. beware, dear reader! this pattern is not always correct! no, I cannot currently be bothered to find a counterexample! maybe later!↩
  5. long story, check Tofugu: transitive and intransitive verbs for more details↩