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
Think you’ve nailed which one takes が and which one takes を? Fire up the quick quiz below and see how your instinct holds up.
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Browse the Full List
| Word | Reading | Type | Meaning | Example | Translation | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 閉める | shimeru | transitive | to close | ドアを閉めます。 | I close the door. | |
| 開ける | akeru | transitive | to open | ドアを開けます。 | I open the door. | |
| 隠す | かくす | transitive | to hide something | 鍵を隠した。 | I hid the key. | |
| 集める | あつめる | transitive | to gather something | みんなの意見を集める。 | I gather everyone's opinions. |
Free Japanese Transitive and Intransitive Verbs Vocabulary List and Flashcard PDFs
Use the purple button to download the Japanese transitive and intransitive verbs vocabulary list, and the teal button to grab the Japanese transitive and intransitive verbs flashcards. Both are 100% free with no signup required.
