Intransitive Verbs
“So, to prevent fatigue and worry, the first rule is: Rest often. Rest before you get tired.” – Dale Carnegie
Intransitive verbs are pretty much the opposite of transitive verbs. They are things that just… happen. You don’t do them, and nobody else does them (that you know of). They are things that you don’t have control over. They are what they are.
Now, remember the three example sentences from the previous page? Let’s look at them again, next to the intranstive verbs.
Transitive: こども を おこした。
I woke the child.
Intransitive: こども が おきた。
The child woke up.
Transitive: テレビ を けした。
I turned off the TV.
Intransitive: テレビ が きえた。
The TV turned off.
Transitive: ドア を あけた。
I opened the door.
Intransitive: ドア が あいた。
The door was open.
In the transitive verb sentences you can see that you have a direct hand in what’s going on. You woke the child. You turned off the TV. You opened the door. In the intransitive verb sentences, however, you didn’t have control. The child woke up. The TV turned off. The door was open. You didn’t do those things – they just… were.
Now, just seeing the two sentences next to each other might give you an idea of how transitive and intransitive works (good, that’s the goal for this page and the last!). It won’t, however, teach you the differences between the verbs. Some of them you might know, but chances are, you don’t really know the difference between a transitive verb and an intransitive verb. That’s where the next page comes in.