Learn about transitive and intransitive verbs and how to use them
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: Naomiです。 |
| Peter: Peter here. Opening New Doors in Japan. In this lesson, you will learn the usage of a verb meaning "to break" and "to begin" in Japanese. |
| Naomi: Right. Which are こわれる and はじまる |
| Peter: Where does this conversation take place? |
| Naomi: 101テレビ局の前。 |
| Peter: In front of 101 TV Station. |
| Naomi: 男の人が歩に話しかけます。 |
| Peter: A man speaks to Ayumu. |
| Naomi: 二人は丁寧に話しています。 |
| Peter: They're using formal Japanese. OK. Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| （バス） |
| アナウンス: 次は、101テレビ局前。101テレビ局前。 |
| : ドアが あきます。 |
| : ドアが 閉まります。 |
| （外） |
| 男: あの、すみません。落としましたよ。 |
| 遠井 歩: え？ |
| 男: かばんから 財布が 落ちましたよ。はい、これ。 |
| 遠井 歩: あ、ありがとうございます。え？新？ |
| 男: はい？違いますけど。じゃ。 |
| 近森 渡: おはよ。歩。歩？あゆむ！ |
| 遠井 歩: え？ああ、渡・・・おはよう。 |
| 近森 渡: 何しているの。 |
| : 会議が 始まるよ。急いで。 |
| 遠井 歩: あ・・・うん。 |
| : （もしかして・・・あの人は 私が この前病院で見た人？） |
| Naomi: もう一度、お願いします。今度は、ゆっくり、お願いします。 |
| アナウンス: 次は、101テレビ局前。101テレビ局前。 |
| : ドアが あきます。 |
| : ドアが 閉まります。 |
| 男: あの、すみません。落としましたよ。 |
| 遠井 歩: え？ |
| 男: かばんから 財布が 落ちましたよ。はい、これ。 |
| 遠井 歩: あ、ありがとうございます。え？新？ |
| 男: はい？違いますけど。じゃ。 |
| 近森 渡: おはよ。歩。歩？あゆむ！ |
| 遠井 歩: え？ああ、渡・・・おはよう。 |
| 近森 渡: 何しているの。 |
| : 会議が 始まるよ。急いで。 |
| 遠井 歩: あ・・・うん。 |
| : （もしかして・・・あの人は 私が この前病院で見た人？） |
| Naomi: 今度は、英語が入ります。 |
| アナウンス: 次は、101テレビ局前。101テレビ局前。 |
| Lady: The next stop is 101 TV Station. 101 TV Station. |
| : ドアが あきます。 |
| Lady: The doors will now open. |
| : ドアが 閉まります。 |
| Lady: The doors will now close. |
| 男: あの、すみません。落としましたよ。 |
| Lady: Um, excuse me. You dropped this. |
| 遠井 歩: え？ |
| Lady: Huh? |
| 男: かばんから 財布が 落ちましたよ。 |
| Lady: You dropped this wallet out of your bag. |
| 男: はい、これ。 |
| Lady: Here you are. |
| 遠井 歩: あ、ありがとうございます。 |
| Lady: Thank you very much! |
| 遠井 歩: え？新？ |
| Lady: Huh? Shin?? |
| 男: はい？違いますけど。じゃ。 |
| Lady: I'm sorry? I think you're mistaken. If you'll excuse me. |
| 近森 渡: おはよ。歩？ |
| Lady: 'Morning, Ayumu. |
| : 歩。 |
| Lady: Ayumu? |
| : あゆむ！ |
| Lady: Ayumu! |
| 遠井 歩: え？ああ、渡・・・おはよう。 |
| Lady: Huh? Ohh, Wataru...good morning. |
| 近森 渡: 何しているの。 |
| Lady: What are you doing?! |
| : 会議が 始まるよ。急いで。 |
| Lady: The meeting is going to start! Hurry up! |
| 遠井 歩: あ・・・うん。 |
| Lady: Oh...right. |
| : （もしかして・・・あの人は 私が この前病院で見た人？） |
| Lady: (Could it be...that that person is the person I saw at the hospital the other day?) |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: 直美先生、「ドアがあきます」？Is that correct? It's not 「ドアがひらきます？」 |
| Naomi: ああ、両方正しいです。Both are correct. Both あきます and ひらきます mean "to open", and when they are used to talk about doors, they basically mean the same thing. |
| Peter: I see. What I usually hear in the announcement though is ドアが開きます。 |
| Naomi: あーそうですか。 Is that right? I’ve never noticed it. Speaking of announcements, 日本の電車やバスのアナウンスって聞きやすいですよね。 |
| Peter: So you asked the announcements on train and buses are pretty easy to understand? |
| Naomi: うん。 |
| Peter: Yeah, I guess so. Most of them are pre-recorded and they come with a translation in English. |
| Naomi: あぁそうそう。そうなんですよね、だから、ビギナーにはうれしいですよね。訳があって勉強出来ますからね。 |
| Peter: So it's Japanese-beginner friendly? |
| Naomi: Hm. Don’t you think? |
| Peter: Yeah, I can see that - the translations can be useful for studying. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Peter: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word is: |
| Naomi: テレビ局 [natural native speed] |
| Peter: T.V. station |
| Naomi: テレビ局 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: テレビ局 [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Naomi: かばん [natural native speed] |
| Peter: bag |
| Naomi: かばん [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: かばん [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Naomi: 会議 [natural native speed] |
| Peter: meeting, conference |
| Naomi: 会議 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 会議 [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Naomi: 急ぐ [natural native speed] |
| Peter: to hurry, to rush |
| Naomi: 急ぐ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 急ぐ [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Naomi: もしかして [natural native speed] |
| Peter: perhaps, possibly |
| Naomi: もしかして [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: もしかして [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Peter: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Naomi-sensei. |
| Naomi: はい。 |
| Peter: The first word we’re looking at is? |
| Naomi: かばん |
| Peter: "bag" Now, Naomi-sensei, you can also say バッグ for bag. |
| Naomi: うん、そうですね。 |
| Peter: So would you say they're interchangeable? |
| Naomi: Ah… According to the dictionary, "yes". はい、そうです。 interchangeable です。 |
| でも...でも、 my image of バッグ is rather small and fashionable. なんか、People usually use かばん for a bag that is relatively big and heavy....you know, maybe one made of leather and has a kind of classic design. I don't know. Anyway, that's my image. |
| Peter: Yeah. I have no idea what it comes to bags. |
| Naomi: Ah-ha. そうね。 You have no interest in bags or かばん。 |
| Peter: あんまり。But we’ll take your word play. |
| Naomi: はい。 |
| Peter: OK. Next, |
| Naomi: 会議 |
| Peter: "meeting" "conference" |
| Naomi: The katakana word ミーティング is also used to mean "meeting". To me 会議 sounds more formal and serious than ミーティング. |
| Peter: I agree. Generally speaking, the word 会議 refers to a relatively big meeting, right? |
| Naomi: うん。 |
| Peter: Where people have a discussion to decide something. |
| But the word ミーティング tends to be used for a relatively small meeting. I guess in some cases, sharing information with workers. |
| Naomi: あ、そうね。上手な説明ですね。Good explanation.（笑）その通りだと思います。I think you're exactly right. |
| Peter: まぁね。I agree. (笑) OK. What's the last one? |
| Naomi: もしかして |
| Peter: "perhaps", "could it be...", "by any chance", "maybe". This is often used to as a prelude before presenting one's guess. |
| Naomi: うん、そうですね。 Here's a sample sentence. もしかして、ピーターさんですか？ |
| Peter: I maybe wrong but, are you Peter? On to the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: The focus of this lesson is the usage of the 2 verbs はじまる, meaning "to begin" or "to start", and こわれる, meaning "to break". |
| Naomi: You must memorize these two verbs, right now!（笑） |
| Peter: I like that. Right now!(Laugh) Now, can we hear them one more time? "To begin" is? |
| Naomi: はじまる |
| Peter: "To break"is |
| Naomi: こわれる |
| Peter: Now, here's a sample sentence for 始まる. |
| Naomi: 会議が始まる |
| Peter: The meeting begins./The meeting is going to begin. |
| Naomi: In this case, who starts the meeting is not important. We are just focusing on the fact that the meeting begins. |
| Peter: Notice that the thing that begins, the thing that starts - in this case 会議 (meeting), was marked by particle が. |
| Naomi: Right. 会議が 始まる。 |
| Peter: "The meeting begins./The meeting is going to begin." Now, how do you say "The summer vacation begins?” or ”The summer vacation starts?" as in "The summer vacation starts now." |
| Naomi: OK."summer vacation" is なつやすみ. |
| Peter: The thing that begins has to be marked by が. So... |
| Naomi: なつやすみが始まる。 |
| Peter: "Summer vacation starts." How do you say "School started"? |
| Naomi: "school" is 学校, and "started" is 始まった, so...学校が始まった |
| Peter: OK, listeners listen and repeat in Japanese. "School started" |
| Naomi: 学校が始まった。 |
| Peter: [pause] Again, say "School started" in Japanese. |
| Naomi: [pause] 学校が始まった。 |
| Peter: On to the next vocab word. |
| Naomi: こわれる |
| Peter: "To break" Kowareru simply means something breaks. |
| Naomi: Right. Who broke it is not important, so it's not mentioned. |
| Peter: How do you say "The car breaks or the car iわ going to break"? |
| Naomi: 車がこわれる。 |
| Peter: Notice that the thing that breaks is marked by particle が. Who or what breaks the car is not mentioned. OK. How do you say "The computer broke"? |
| Naomi: Computer is コンピューター |
| Peter: The thing that breaks is marked by が. So... |
| Naomi: コンピューターが |
| Peter: The past form of (こわれる), "to break", is (こわれた), so... |
| Naomi: コンピューターが こわれた |
| Peter: OK. Listen and repeat "The computer broke." |
| Naomi: コンピューターがこわれた |
| Peter: OK. Say "The computer broke" in Japanese. |
| Naomi: [pause] コンピューターがこわれた |
| Peter: OK. For these lessons, some of you may have some really important questions. Now, I don't want to scare you with grammatical terms, but these verbs はじまる and こわれる are intransitive verbs. |
| Naomi: そうですね。There's a detailed write up about what an intransitive verb is and how to use it, so 読んでくださいね。 |
| Peter: Definitely take some time to read this because transitive and intransitive verbs are very important in Japanese. |
| Naomi: Right. |
| Peter: Japanese in particular. |
| Naomi: Hm. |
| Peter: So reading this will help you get a good understanding. And this will really help you in your studies. |
| Naomi: はい、そう思います。 |
| Peter: That’s going to do it. |
| Naomi: じゃ、また。 |
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66 Comments
HideTransitive and Intransitive verbs! The grammar terms sound scary, but they're really not that bad :smile:
Write your sentences for practice below!
Hi ねこロバー06🐈,
Thank you for your comment!
Your sentences are correct👍
If you want transitive/intransitive verb couples, please try this page.
https://www.japanesepod101.com/lesson/lower-intermediate-lesson-s5-18-please-listen-to-my-japanese-sales-pitch/
Thank you for learning Japanese with us:)
Sincerely,
Miho
Team JapanesePod101.com
nisaさん
質問（しつもん）ありがとうございます😄
No, もしかして means "by any chance" and たぶん means "maybe."
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
Are もしかして and たぶん also interchangeable?
The story lines are very fun to listen to!!!
transitive ~マニスは私の新しい電話をこわしたよ! 📱💥💢
intransitive ~弁当箱が落ちたなぁ🍱〽💦
二伸 btw, the transitive/intransitive verbs "couples" would make an awesome workbook! 😺📒👍
(Or is there already one I missed out? 😳🙄😅)
ステーイヴさん
コメントありがとうございます😄
It says in the dialogue, "You dropped this wallet out of your bag. (Lit - Your wallet dropped out of your bag)"😉
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
Oops, I said "It's a little odd to teach transitive vs intransitive then translate the transitive sentence into an intransitive form, don't you think?" when I meant the inverse. But I'm sure you understood what I was saying... :)
Just a couple of quick points on this sentence:
男: かばんから 財布が 落ちましたよ。
Lady: You dropped this wallet out of your bag.
First, it's a 男 speaking, not a lady. Second, since this lesson teaches transitive vs intransitive verbs, this should be translated that way. The sentence doesn't say, "You dropped this wallet out of your bag." It says "This wallet fell out of your bag."
It's a little odd to teach transitive vs intransitive then translate the transitive sentence into an intransitive form, don't you think? It was quite confusing until after re-reading post-lesson. I think for the benefit of the student, translations into English should be as close to the original intent as possible and only altered if there is no direct equivalent.
I hope this suggestion is helpful!
Hi Li,
Thank you for the question!
Both needs to be この店”は” and both are correct.
Thank you for studying with us!
Sincerely,
Erica
Team JapanesePod101.com
Hi,
If I’d like to know when the store opens, which one of the following sentences is correct? And why?
この店が何時からあきますか
この店が何時からあいていますか
Thanks!
Hi ziena,
Thanks for the comment!
携帯電話をこわしてしまったのですね。😞
Your sentence could be better as follows:
携帯電話を持っていました。でも、こわしてしまいました。
Sincerely,
Miki H
Team JapanesePod101.com