intransitive and transitive verb pairs

Many Japanese verbs come in pairs: an intransitive verb describing what happens (ドアが開く) and a transitive verb describing what someone does (ドアを開ける). The intransitive subject takes が and the transitive object takes を. Common pairs include 開く/開ける, 閉まる/閉める, つく/つける, and 始まる/始める.

Examples

• ドアが開ひらきました。

  Doa ga akimashita.

  The door opened.

• 私わたしはドアを開あけました。

  Watashi wa doa o akemashita.

  I opened the door.

Vocabulary in these examples

• ドア door
• 開く to open (intransitive)
• 私 I; me
• 開ける to open

Related patterns · Transitive and intransitive verbs

• 〜てある has been done (and remains so)
• 〜ている（結果の状態） resulting state (is broken, is on)