他Time and change
It opens, or you open it
Many verbs come in pairs: one for when something happens on its own, and one for when someone does it.
The pair
Happens, or someone does it
The door opens.
Happens by itself. The thing takes が.
I open the door.
Someone does it. The thing takes を.
Common pairs
Learn them two at a time
A few shapes repeat: -aru/-eru, -reru/-su, -eru/-asu. Learning the shapes helps you guess new words.
| It happens | Someone does it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 開く (あく) | 開ける (あける) | open |
| 閉まる (しまる) | 閉める (しめる) | close |
| 始まる (はじまる) | 始める (はじめる) | start |
| 止まる (とまる) | 止める (とめる) | stop |
| 出る (でる) | 出す (だす) | come out, take out |
| 消える (きえる) | 消す (けす) | go out, turn off |
| 壊れる (こわれる) | 壊す (こわす) | break |
| 落ちる (おちる) | 落とす (おとす) | fall, drop |
In use
Same situation, different focus
Class is starting.
The teacher starts class.
The lights went out.
I turned off the lights.
A plate broke.
This can sound less like you're to blame.
I broke a plate.
This owns up to it.
Careful
English often uses one verb
English “open” works both ways, so the pairs are easy to miss. Check the particle: が with the happens-by-itself verb, を with the someone-does-it verb. する and なる also behave like a pair, as do 死ぬ and 殺す, even though they don't look alike.
Check yourself
Did someone do it?
Your turn
が or を?
The door closed.
Find the mistake
Tap the part that's wrong.
。
Say it yourself
It wasn't me
You come home and find the door open and the TV turned off. Tell your roommate: the door is open, and you turned off the TV yourself.
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