Japanese verbs love to come in pairs that look and sound almost identical – but one puts the focus on someone doing the action, and the other describes something happening by itself. Get them mixed up and you might open the door with ドアが開ける when you mean ドアが開く. Sneaky, right?
This list hands you around 54 common transitive and intransitive verb pairs with straightforward meanings and natural example sentences. You’ll see exactly how each verb behaves in a real sentence, so you can stop guessing whether to use が or を.
Ready to make your brain do a tiny happy dance? Scroll to the bottom of the article for the free printable Japanese transitive and intransitive verbs vocabulary list PDF and the free downloadable printable Japanese transitive and intransitive verbs flashcards — perfect for quick review, sneaky practice, and a little grammar glow-up.
Use this list as a starting point, then keep going in the Yak Yacker Japanese section for more words, phrases, and study-friendly reference pages.
Quick Quiz
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| Word | Reading | Type | Meaning | Example | Translation | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| つける | tsukeru | transitive | to turn on; to attach | 電気をつけます。 | I turn on the light. | |
| テレビが消える | terebi ga kieru | intransitive | go off; be extinguished | テレビが消えました。 | The TV went off. | |
| テレビを消す | terebi o kesu | transitive | turn off; extinguish | テレビを消してください。 | Please turn off the TV. | |
| 上がる | あがる | intransitive | to rise; to go up | 温度が上がります。 | The temperature rises. | |
| 上げる | あげる | transitive | to raise; to lift | 手を上げます。 | I raise my hand. | |
| 下げる | さげる | transitive | to lower something | 旗を下げた。 | I lowered the flag. | |
| 並べる | ならべる | transitive | to line up something | 本を机に並べた。 | I lined up the books on the desk. | |
| 乾かす | かわかす | transitive | to dry (something) | 髪を乾かす。 | I dry my hair. | |
| 仕事を終える | shigoto o oeru | transitive | finish; complete | 仕事を終えました。 | I finished the work. | |
| 会議が終わる | kaigi ga owaru | intransitive | end; finish | 会議が終わりました。 | The meeting ended. | |
| 倒す | たおす | transitive | to knock down | 木を倒します。 | I knock down the tree. | |
| 入る | はいる | intransitive | to enter | 部屋に入ります。 | I enter the room. | |
| 入れる | いれる | transitive | to put in; to insert | 箱に入れます。 | I put it in the box. | |
| 冷える | ひえる | intransitive | to get cold | 夜になると部屋が冷える。 | The room gets cold at night. | |
| 冷やす | ひやす | transitive | to cool something | 飲み物を冷やした。 | I chilled the drink. | |
| 出す | だす | transitive | to put out; to take out | 本を出します。 | I take out the book. | |
| 出る | でる | intransitive | to go out; to leave | 外に出ます。 | I go outside. | |
| 切る | きる | transitive | to cut | 紙を切ります。 | I cut the paper. | |
| 切れる | きれる | intransitive | to be cut; to break | ひもが切れます。 | The string breaks. | |
| 回す | まわす | transitive | to turn (something) | ハンドルを回す。 | I turn the handle. | |
| 増える | ふえる | intransitive | to increase | 人口が増える。 | The population increases. | |
| 壊す | kowasu | transitive | to break; to destroy | コップを壊しました。 | I broke the cup. | |
| 変える | かえる | transitive | to change (something) | 予定を変えます。 | I change the plan. | |
| 変わる | かわる | intransitive | to change | 季節が変わります。 | The season changes. | |
| 始める | hajimeru | transitive | to begin; to start | 仕事を始めます。 | I start work. |
Free Japanese Transitive and Intransitive Verbs Vocabulary List and Flashcard PDFs
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