ドアを開ける or ドアが開く? 会議を始める or 会議が始まる? Japanese has hundreds of verbs that come in pairs — one describing someone doing an action to something, the other describing something happening. They're introduced around N4, tested regularly through N3, and they remain a common source of mistakes even for advanced learners. This guide explains how the pairs work, the patterns that help you predict which is which, and how to use them correctly in JLPT questions.
Transitive vs intransitive in one minute
- A transitive verb (他動詞) has someone acting on an object. The object takes を.
- 私がドアを開ける。— I open the door.
- An intransitive verb (自動詞) describes something happening by itself, with no object. The subject takes が.
- ドアが開く。— The door opens.
Same event, different focus. The transitive version highlights who did it; the intransitive version highlights what happened.
The most common pairs
| Transitive (を) | Intransitive (が) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 開ける | 開く | open |
| 閉める | 閉まる | close |
| 始める | 始まる | begin |
| 終える | 終わる | end |
| 入れる | 入る | put in / enter |
| 出す | 出る | take out / go out |
| つける | つく | turn on |
| 消す | 消える | turn off / go out |
| 止める | 止まる | stop |
| 落とす | 落ちる | drop / fall |
| 壊す | 壊れる | break |
| 変える | 変わる | change |
You'll notice 終える is less common in everyday speech than 終わる — many speakers also use 終わる transitively (仕事を終わる), but for exam purposes, stick to the standard pairings.
Patterns that help you predict
There's no single rule, but a few patterns cover many pairs:
- 〜える (transitive) / 〜まる or 〜わる (intransitive): 始める / 始まる, 閉める / 閉まる, 決める / 決まる, 変える / 変わる.
- 〜す (transitive) / other (intransitive): 出す / 出る, 消す / 消える, 落とす / 落ちる, 起こす / 起きる. A verb ending in す is very often the transitive one.
- 〜える (intransitive) / 〜す or 〜る (transitive): 壊れる / 壊す, 増える / 増やす, 冷える / 冷やす.
The safest habit: whenever you learn one verb from a pair, learn its partner and the particle that goes with each.
The structures the JLPT loves
Transitive/intransitive pairs matter most when they combine with these patterns:
〜ている (resulting state) — intransitive
窓が開いている。— The window is open. (It's in an opened state.) This describes a state, without any focus on who opened it.
〜てある (intentional state) — transitive
窓が開けてある。— The window has been opened (by someone, on purpose). This implies someone did it deliberately, often for a reason.
The contrast between 開いている and 開けてある is a classic N4–N3 grammar question. A quick way to tell: てある goes with the transitive verb, but the object is marked with が (or は) instead of を.
〜ておく (do in advance) — transitive
ビールを冷やしておく。— I'll chill the beer in advance.
Expressing accidents and responsibility
Japanese often uses the intransitive verb to soften responsibility:
- 皿が割れました。— The plate broke. (neutral, avoids blame)
- 皿を割ってしまいました。— I broke the plate. (takes responsibility, often in apologies)
At higher levels, this nuance appears in reading and listening: choosing the transitive form can signal that a speaker is owning a mistake.
Common mistakes
- Wrong particle with the right verb: ドアを開く (should be ドアが開く or ドアを開ける).
- 〜ている vs 〜てある mix-ups: 電気がつけている (should be 電気がついている or 電気がつけてある).
- Learning only one verb from each pair, then guessing the other on the exam.
If these show up repeatedly, they belong in your mistake log. For other grammar pairs that cause similar confusion, see JLPT grammar points that trip up intermediate learners.
How to practise verb pairs
- Learn pairs as pairs, with their particles: ドアを開ける / ドアが開く.
- Describe your surroundings. Look around and describe states: 電気がついている, 窓が閉まっている. Then describe what you did: 電気をつけた.
- Drill てある vs ている with fill-in-the-blank questions until the choice is automatic.
- Mix them into your spaced repetition deck as sentence cards, not single verbs.
JLPT Ready's Learn section explains grammar and vocabulary item by item for each level, with links to practice questions that test them, and the Dojo's AI explanation for every question makes it clear whether a mistake was the verb or the particle. Explanations are available in English, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and both Chinese scripts. For the overall grammar roadmap across levels, see JLPT grammar patterns from N5 to N1 and the complete JLPT preparation guide.
The takeaway
Transitive verbs take を and focus on who did it; intransitive verbs take が and focus on what happened. Learn every verb with its partner and particle, watch the す and える/ある patterns, and master ている vs てある — it's one of the most reliably tested distinctions at N4 and N3. If you'd like grammar practice with an explanation behind every answer, you can start JLPT Ready free with N5 — no card required.