In Part 1, we covered pairs like 開く/開ける and 直る/直す. This time, we add three more pairs you will encounter daily -- dropping things, waking up, and raising children.
Three New Verb Pairs
| Intransitive (が) | Transitive (を) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 落ちる (おちる) | 落とす (おとす) | fall / drop (something) |
| 起きる (おきる) | 起こす (おこす) | wake up, occur / wake someone, cause |
| 育つ (そだつ) | 育てる (そだてる) | grow up / raise, nurture |
落ちる / 落とす (drop/fall)
This is one of the most frequently used pairs in daily life.
落ちる (intransitive): Something falls on its own
財布が落ちた。 -> The wallet fell (dropped).
The subject of 落ちる is the thing that falls -- wallets, leaves, grades, flavor quality:
| Example | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 味が落ちた。 | The flavor declined. (Quality "dropped") |
| 成績が落ちた。 | Grades dropped. |
| ボタンが落ちた。 | The button fell off. |
落とす (transitive): Someone drops something
お金を落とした。 -> I dropped (my) money.
The subject of 落とす is always a person -- someone accidentally caused something to drop:
| Example | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 携帯電話を落とした。 | I dropped my phone. |
| 鍵を落とした。 | I dropped my keys. |
| 傘を駅に置いてきた。 | I left my umbrella at the station. |
How to tell them apart
In English, "the wallet dropped" and "I dropped my wallet" both use "drop." Japanese requires different verbs:
| Meaning | Japanese | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| The wallet fell | 財布が落ちた。 | Wallet (thing) is subject -> intransitive |
| I dropped my wallet | 財布を落とした。 | I (person) dropped it -> transitive |
起きる / 起こす (wake/rise)
The interesting thing about this pair is that the intransitive verb 起きる has two meanings.
起きる (intransitive): Wake up / Something happens
Meaning 1: A person wakes up on their own
朝六時に起きた。 -> I woke up at 6 a.m.
Meaning 2: An event occurs
大きな事故が起きた。 -> A major accident occurred.
Whether it is a person waking up or an event happening, the subject "starts moving on its own" -- hence intransitive in both cases.
起こす (transitive): Wake someone / Cause something
Meaning 1: Wake someone up
妹がお母さんを起こす。 -> My younger sister wakes up Mom.
Meaning 2: Cause something
問題を起こす。 -> Cause a problem.
The subject of 起こす is the person performing the action, and the object is "the person being woken" or "the thing being caused."
Particles determine meaning
Look at this interesting set of examples:
| Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|
| お母さんが妹を起こす。 | Mom wakes up little sister. |
| 妹がお母さんを起こす。 | Little sister wakes up Mom. |
| お母さんが起きる。 | Mom wakes up (on her own). |
Mom appears in all three sentences, but whether she is marked with が or を determines whether she is "the one waking someone" or "the one being woken."
遠足の日はお母さんが起こす前に自分で起きるでしょう。 -> On field trip days, you probably wake up on your own before Mom comes to wake you.
One sentence with both 起こす and 起きる -- waking someone is transitive, waking up yourself is intransitive.
育つ / 育てる (grow / raise)
育つ (intransitive): Something grows on its own
桜の木が育った。 -> The cherry tree grew (up).
子供が元気に育つ。 -> The child grows up healthy.
育てる (transitive): Someone nurtures
母が私を育てた。 -> My mother raised me.
桜の木を育てる。 -> Cultivate a cherry tree.
| Meaning | Japanese | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| The cherry tree grew | 桜の木が育った。 | Tree (thing) grows on its own -> intransitive |
| Cultivate a cherry tree | 桜の木を育てる。 | A person cultivates it -> transitive |
Memory Shortcut
The same rule still works -- す ending -> transitive:
| Transitive (す ending) | Intransitive counterpart |
|---|---|
| 落とす | 落ちる |
| 起こす | 起きる |
| 直す | 直る |
| 流す | 流れる |
| 倒す | 倒れる |
| 残す | 残る |
育てる does not end in す, but another pattern applies: ichidan verbs ending in える -> often transitive.
Summary
- 落ちる/落とす: Thing falls by itself vs. person drops it. Extremely common
- 起きる/起こす: Wake up on your own / happen vs. wake someone / cause something
- 育つ/育てる: Grow up on your own vs. someone raises/nurtures
- す ending -> transitive continues to be reliable
- が -> intransitive; を -> transitive
Self-Test
Q1. "I dropped my phone" -- use 落ちる or 落とす?
Show answer
Use 落とす (transitive): 携帯電話を落とした。
"I" is the subject (person), "phone" is the object (thing) -> someone dropped something -> transitive.
If you want to say "the phone fell" (without specifying who dropped it), use 落ちる: 携帯電話が落ちた。
Q2. Fill in: 「お母さん＿＿起こす前に自分で起き＿＿」
Show answer
- お母さんが起こす前に -> が (Mom is the subject of "waking someone up")
- 自分で起きる -> 自分で (waking up on your own -- intransitive, no を needed)
Full sentence: お母さんが起こす前に自分で起きるでしょう。-> You'll probably wake up on your own before Mom comes to wake you.
Q3. Fill in the particle: 「この木は祖父＿＿育てました」
Show answer
が: この木は祖父が育てました。 -> This tree was raised by Grandfather.
Grandfather is the subject of the action "raising/cultivating" -> が. 育てる is transitive, and "this tree" is the object (promoted to topic with は).