Learn the difference between SHIRI and WAKARU
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| Hi everybody! Hiroko here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common Japanese questions. |
| The question for this lesson is...What’s the difference between 知る(shiru) and 分かる(wakaru)? |
| Both 知る(shiru) and 分かる(wakaru) can be translated as “to know.” So, how do you know which one to use? |
| Let’s go over the differences together. |
| 知る(shiru) is used when you gain new information or knowledge. 分かる(wakaru) is used when you “understand,” “grasp,” or “comprehend” something. It’s also used when you discover something, make a judgement, or decide on a solution. |
| Let’s do some examples so you can learn how to use 知る(shiru) and 分かる(wakaru) correctly. |
| First, let’s do an example with 知る(shiru)-- |
| 駅までの道を知っています。(Eki made no michi o shitte imasu.) |
| This phrase means, “I know the way/route to the station.” In this situation, the route to the station is something you simply “know.” 知る(shiru) is an action verb meaning “to learn” or “to gain something new,” so when it’s used to mean “to know,” you need to use it in the -te form plus います(imasu), as in 知っています(shitte imasu)。 |
| Now, let's do an example with 分かる(wakaru)-- |
| この文の意味が分かりました。(Kono bun no imi ga wakarimashita.) |
| This phrase literally means, “I (now) understood the meaning of this sentence.” In this situation, the speaker was unable to grasp the meaning of the sentence before, but now has complete understanding of it. That’s why, in this case, we use 分かる(wakaru) in the past tense 分かりました(wakarimashita), to express that the meaning has already been understood. |
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| Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them! |
| またね！mata ne! See you! |
11 Comments
HideWhat Japanese learning question do you have?
Hi Yona,
Thank you for taking the time to leave us a comment.😄
There are some explanations for the example sentence 「この文の意味が分かりました。」in the Lesson Note and in the Lesson Transcript section. Here I quote, “In this situation, the speaker was unable to grasp the meaning of the sentence before, but now has a complete understanding of it. That's why, in this case, we use 分かる (wakaru) in the past tense, 分かりました (wakarimashita), to express that the meaning has already been understood.”. Hope this answers your question!😉
Looking forward to seeing you often here.
Sincerely,
Yoshimi
Team JapanesePod101.com
For the last example, I wish there were a bit more explanations as of why "wakarimashita" is in past tense, to translate as a state of currently "understanding" something ; why not present tense?
Jim Burnsさん
コメントありがとうございます😄
Please let us know if you have any question :)
Sincerely
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
ヒロコさん、どうしてそんなに美しくスマートになったのですか
Raichu san,
Konnichiwa.
I am sorry about the late reply.
Thank you very much for your positive feedback.
Ｄａｎ san and Cindy san,
Konnichiwa.
Thank you for your comments.
If you have specific questions, please feel free to ask us.
JHD42 san, Alain san
Konnichiwa.
Unfortunately,しります is hardly used and when you want to say ‘I know’, you should use ‘しっています.’
This is not following the video however, the differences are below.
Imagine you are asked about your plan for this weekend.
「週末に何をしますか」
If you say ‘しりません’, that is incorrect.
In this case, ‘わかりません’ is appropriate.
You haven’t decided it yet however, you will think about it later on and will have your answer.
When you don’t know about (decide) something but will get an answer, ‘わかりません’ should be used.
You don’t know about (decide) something now and if you think or look up or do whatever, you will not get an answer for it, you should use ‘しりません.’
The point is ‘whether you can get an answer later or not.’
Other example is
In class teachers often use ‘わかりますか’ after his/her explanation or drill practice or at the end of the class then you can follow it and say ‘はい、わかります (I understand)’ or ’いいえ、わかりません.’
On the other hand, teachers ask students about questions using ‘しっていますか’ , before introducing something new which means s/he would like to know about your knowledge.
I hope it could be helpful.:smile:
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
I'm not sure I understood.
Perhaps some more examples would be necessary.
I think I get it (わかりました), but indeed, the examples are not optimal.
First we're told しる means gaining knowledge, which sounds a lot like わかる's understanding and comprehending, but the example immediately jumps to the て-form.
But what would be the nuance between しります and わかります?
I agree with Dan. The video examples are confusing.
I am a little bit confused. In the video, I think the person knows the way to the station, so it is not new information. But learning the sentence, that would be new information.
great explanation! if only i had this video when i was trying to wakaru the difference between these two words i shitte iru!!