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Transitive and intransitive verbs
Many verbs in Japanese have a transitive and intransitive
form. Though the verb uses the same kanji, the okurigana (送り仮名),
or the hiragana forming the conjugation base after the kanji, are
different. In some cases this also influences the reading of the
kanji.
| 出る |
でる |
deru |
to appear / to come out |
| 出す |
だす |
dasu |
to take out |
| 入る |
はいる |
hairu |
to go in / to enter |
| 入れる |
いれる |
ireru |
to put in |
| |
| 上がる |
あがる |
agaru |
to climb / to rise |
| 上げる |
あげる |
ageru |
to raise / to give to a superior |
| 下る |
くだる |
kudaru |
to descend / to go down |
| 下さる |
くださる |
kudasaru |
to bring down / to give to an inferior |
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下さる and 上げる also have the meaning of "to give". When
speaking of superiors include one's teachers, bosses, but also the
so-called "out-group", meaning people outside one's family
or work environment. The inferior group includes children, employees,
and the "in-group" including people in one's family and
work environment.
Okurigana
Sometimes different okurigana (the hiragana after the kanji of the
verb) are used. In this lesson we'll see two examples of this:
- 上がる (agaru) and 上る (agaru) both meaning "to rise"
or "to go up".
NOTE: 上る can also be pronounced as "noboru", meaning
"to climb"
- 引出し (hikidashi) and 引き出し (hikidashi) both meaning "drawer".
This word is constructed from the ren'youkei conjugation of two
verbs: 引く (hiku) meaning "to pull" and 出す (dasu) meaning
"to take out". When writing these types of nouns, the
okurigana of the first verb is often dropped.
Most of the time okurigana should be written in full. If you make
it a habit to always do this you will never make mistakes.
To be
There is no real single word for "to be", instead the
verb "ある" (aru) is combined with the particle "で"
(de). The resulting "verb" is then "である" (de
aru) often abreviated to "だ" (da).
本である。 (Hon de aru.) It's a book.
本だ。 (Hon da.) It's a book.
Note that the particle "が" isn't used with "である"
or "だ" since "が" and "で" cannot be
combined. Unlike other verbs, "である" and "だ"
cannot be used without a subject.
本がある。 (Hon ga aru.) There's a book.
Word order
There are only 2 rules when constructing a sentence.
| 1. |
The main verb must be at the absolute end of the
sentence in the rentaikei (連体形), only followed by closing particles. |
| 2. |
All designators are placed before the designated. |
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There is a prefered order in the sentence, but you may alter it
to suit your own needs. As a general rule the closer a word is to
the main verb, the more important it is.
Standard
order |
subject |
time |
place |
object |
number |
verb |
closing
particle |
| 田中さんが |
今日 |
町で |
本を |
二冊 |
買う |
よ。 |
| Tanaka-san ga |
kyou |
machi de |
hon wo |
ni satsu |
kau |
yo. |
| Mr. Tanaka |
today |
in the town |
books |
two |
buy |
[emphatic] |
| Variation 1 |
kyou |
machi de |
Tanaka-san ga |
hon wo |
ni satsu |
kau |
yo. |
| Variation 2 |
machi de |
hon wo |
Tanaka-san ga |
ni satsu |
kyou |
kau |
yo. |
etcetera.
This is possible since each element's function is determined by
a particle. The ...wa (…は) element is placed at the beginning of
the sentence in the standard order.
None of these elements, apart from the main verb, are necessary
to construct a sentence.
| Tanaka-san ga |
kyou |
machi de |
hon wo |
ni satsu |
kau |
yo. |
| |
kyou |
machi de |
hon wo |
ni satsu |
kau |
yo. |
| |
machi de |
hon wo |
ni satsu |
kau |
yo. |
| |
hon wo |
ni satsu |
kau |
yo. |
| |
ni satsu |
kau |
yo. |
| |
kau |
yo. |
| .kau. |
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