Do I really need to memorise transitivity pairs?

Japanese
#1

Hello, I was wondering about the question of if I really need to remember if verbs are transitive or intransitive. My current process is to just learn as much verbs as possible which I’ve been doing for a while. I thought that it would be clear if a verb is transitive or not from context whilst reading but I’ve been hearing different from some people on the internet. Some people say they learned through reading naturally (and have never had to learn transitivity since context makes it clear) and others said I need to rote memorise them. So my question is, do I really have to memorise the fact that one is transitive and the other is intransitive? I feel like that’d be really difficult along with remembering the definition of a verb.

Oh, I should also add, I’m only interested in reading Japanese and not speaking or writing (so I wouldn’t have to think about using the right verb whilst talking to make it sound natural since I only want to read) if that makes a difference.
Thanks!

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#2

I definitely think sitting there and rote memorizing however many pairs of verbs (hundreds of them?) would be a waste of time.
You’ll get it over time just through repeated exposure.

If it helps, I like to think of one of the two as like the “primary” verb and then when you encounter the “other one”, you know it’s got the other meaning.

There are also some patterns out there which can help, like -aru vs. -eru.

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#3

In most cases you will be able to tell if the verb is transitive from the definitions as:

Transitive Translation Intransitive Translation
産む to give birth 産まれる to be born
生む to give birth, to produce 生まれる to be born
寄せる to move something close to, to pull something over, to contribute something 寄る to approach, to visit, to drop in, to stop by
戻す to return, to return something 戻る to return, to be returned, to go back
降ろす to take down, to launch, to drop, to lower, to bring down 降りる to get off, to disembark, to dismount, to descent, to come down, to go down
無くす to get rid of something, to do away with something, to lose something 無くなる to be lost, to get lost, to disappear

There are also several patterns that you can look out for (though some pairs are opposite or do not fit into any pattern). You can read up on that here if you’d like:
https://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/jitadoushi.html
http://nihongo.monash.edu/ti_list.html

Some people like to be aware that a verb is part of a pair (like me), some people will be able to tell from the definition and context (the particles used usually helps with that as in many cases transitive verbs will use を). For me, I made a giant table that I would add to whenever I learned a verb that was part of a pair. (Which I am happy to share with you if you would like.)

The nice thing about learning a language on your own is that you get to decide what works best for you. If you tried memorizing these verbs in pairs, and it’s too difficult or not working for you, there’s always something else you can try.

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#4

Thanks for the answer, much appreciated!

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#5

I appreciate the detailed answer, thank you very much. I think I’ll probably try learn it by instinct but I’d love to take you up on the offer of the verb pair table to read as well if you don’t mind.

#6

Off the top of my head there is one particular reason why one might want to ‘bone up on’ (which is not to say rote memorize) the so-called ‘transitivity’ pairs in Japanese, and that reason is that: English/European concepts of verb transitivity do not quite map over to Japanese verbs exactly as ‘transitivity’ – instead there are subtle differences, and, for some folks, learning those differences might make both learning and understanding the Japanese language as a whole more ‘logical’ and ‘complete’.

Specifically, I would recommend at least watching this specific video by Cure Dolly (sadly, no longer with us), in which she translates the key distinction as ‘Self-Move’ and ‘Other-Move’ verbs. (Which, actually, are the literal translations of the native-Japanese verb types 自動詞 (jidoushi) and 他動詞 (tadoushi). Her proposed system for remembering the various types is not perfect, but the patterns greatly compress down how much you have to remember. I found her explanation invaluable.

[Note: Some folks are turned off by Cure Dolly’s quirky anime/android avatar and/or her idiosyncratic voice/accent. If you’re one of them, you’re not alone! Hopefully it doesn’t get too much in the way of the useful information! :sweat_smile: (Personally, it doesn’t bother me anymore, and I actually think it’s kinda funny/cute, in an ‘old grandma’ kind of way, but :man_shrugging: )

:warning: Tip: You can turn on the English subtitles in the video to help follow along, if it helps! ]

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#7

Speaking as someone who is also primarily focused on reading: yes, transitivity is still important. You can get the general gist of what’s happening, but you may get confused about the specifics if you don’t know what is acting upon what. E.g., did somebody close the door? Or did the door close on its own? Sometimes that doesn’t matter. And sometimes it makes all the difference in the story.

You definitely don’t need to memorize every pair you come across. I tried doing that back when I first started studying, and it ended up confusing me. Like you said, it’s hard to keep track of along with the definition of the verb. But I’d at least have a few pairs you memorize. They can be your reference for when you forget the general rules. That CureDolly video @wct linked is very helpful and lists out the general patterns in an easy-to-understand way. Think of pairs that match up with those patterns, and when you come across an unfamiliar word when reading, you can think back to your reference pairs.

上げる・上がる was one of my reference pairs for a long time because it’s so common and follows a common pattern. And also they are different words in English too (raise vs rise). When I came across a word I didn’t know the transitivity of but seemed to follow the 上げる・上がる, I’d think: okay, which one is transitive? 上げる… this verb also has an -eru ending… I bet it’s transitive!. Of course, double check to make sure you’re right! There’s exceptions to the patterns!

It also depends on how familiar you are with transitivity as a concept in general. If you struggle with the concept of transitivity, I’d definitely focus more on it. But if you already know about it and are used to transitivity in language, it may be easier to pick up from reading naturally. So the differing advice you’ve received could come from that.

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#8

very helpful! thanks!

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#9

I appreciate the advice, thank you. I’ll probably take the same approach you did I think.

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