Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [transitivity]

他動性・自他対応. Whether or not verbs take a direct object as a complement. In Japanese, these objects are typically marked with the accusative case marker を.

Whether or not verbs take a direct object as a complement. (Intransitive verbs do not take a direct object, whereas transitive verbs do.) In Japanese, these objects are typically marked with the accusative case marker を.

Intransitive verbs are called 自動詞 and transitive verbs are called 他動詞 in Japanese.

See also

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Passive-transitive-verb vs. Intransitive-verb （他動詞の受け身 vs. 自動詞)

I think I know the answer to this, but it still creeps up in my mind all the time; something I'd like to research more. I want to know technical differences as well as common usage. When do you use the passive form of a transitive verb versus just…
istrasci
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Making sense of transitive usage of 行く and 来る - 「を行く」 and 「を来る」

I think it's known that some intransitive verbs can take を particle and be used as transitive verbs such as for example 「私のことを分かってくれない」. While using 分かる transitively would require specific scenarios or patterns, from the point of view of an English…
Lukman
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When is 終わる used as a transitive verb?

On Are 終わる and 済ませる synonyms?, there were some questions whether 終わる is used as a transitive verb. Space ALC seems to have a few results for を終わる, but far more for を終わらせる and を終える. Looking at sense 4 of the Daijisen definition, it does seem 終わる can…
cypher
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Meaning and transitivity of ゴミ袋を手に立ち上がる

While doing some translating, I stumbled upon this usage of 立ち上がる。 わたしがゴミ袋を手に立ち上がると、イツカ君とお姉ちゃんは二人一緒にわたしの所へやって来ました。 It doesn't match up with the definitions I'm familiar with, nor any of the other ones I found in the…
Rimilel
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Transitive English words becoming intransitive 外来語

While reading naruto's answer to Difference in sentences (と and に）, I realized that although キス is an intransitive verb in Japanese, the English kiss is almost always used as a transitive verb. Some other examples of this are アクセス and リベンジ. My…
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How do 自他 triplets of related verbs work?

I thought this had been asked before (possibly by me), but I couldn't find it. I'm wondering why for certain verbs/words, instead of just a 自他 pair, there is a triplet (or possibly more) where two of the verbs are one type (自 or 他) and the third is…
istrasci
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About -eru and -aru verb pairs that are not transitive/intransitive counterpart of each other

Most -eru and -aru pairs of verbs that I know are transitive/intransitive counterparts of each others. For example, 見つかる is the intransitive counterpart for the transitive 見つける, and 変わる is the intransitive counterpart for the transitive 変える. But…
Lukman
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とまる / とめる and such pairs of verbs

I'm a beginner in Japanese. At my classes I'm taught like this: とまる / とめる is a pair intransitive/transitive verb. This I understand and can memorize a table of such verbs. I can't help, though, notice a certain phonetic change pattern in all those…
Alexander Kulyakhtin
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自～／他～ペア：逆の形 -- Transitive/Intransitive pairs: opposite forms

I've noticed (through much frustration) that many 自～／他～ pairs have "opposite" forms; particularly with the ~u and ~eru types. For example, 焼く・焼ける are opposite from 開く・開ける. 焼く　（他）　－　パンを焼く ("Bake bread") 焼ける　（自）－　パンがちょうどよく焼けた ("The bread was baked…
istrasci
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Is を頑張る standard Japanese?

This question came up on chat. In this phrase: TOEIC、頑張ってください Can the comma be replaced by を? If not, is there a better particle? 頑張る is listed as a 自動詞 in both of my dictionaries (岩波 and 集英社). There are plenty of Google results for を頑張る…
user1478
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Are there verbs that are neither intransitive nor transitive?

i was taught that verbs are either transitive or intransitive. but what kind of verb is 分かる ? WWWJDIC lists it as intransitive. Yet the replies/comments from this thread Why is it 日本語がわかります instead of 日本語をわかります? argues that を can be used with…
Pacerier
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Where does the -a stem come from with auxiliary-constructed transitive/intransitive verb pairs if the base verb is a 二段活用 (or カ行変格活用)?

It seems to be generally understood that transitive/intransitive verb pairs, when they are not a 四段活用 and a 二段活用 that share the same 終止形, were created by taking a base verb, whether transitive or intransitive, and adding an Old Japanese auxiliary -…
LittleWhole
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What is going on grammatically with "Xを嫌いになる"?

I've observed native speakers use this construction (similarly with 好き). Does this mean that なる can be used transitively and take a direct object in some cases? Is this related to the idea that something becomes liked or disliked as an involuntary…
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Transitive vs Causative Intransitive

original (Causative Intransitive): 彼女は私の肩に頭を凭れさせる vs new (transitive): 彼女は私の肩に頭を凭せる way back when i asked this, i took it as sometimes there is no transitive pair for an intransitive verb so the causative is used to take direct object with を…
charu
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What is the difference between に触れる and を触れる?

Example sentences: 手をふれないでください。 ボールはネットに触れた。 The second sentence feels like passive but then I would write it like this: に触れられる。
takeru
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