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Verbs: to open / to begin

kisaragi

後輩
9 Jan 2004
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Hi can anyone explain me the differences between:

hiraku
aku
akeru
?

And

kaishi suru
hajimeru
hajimaru

?

I believe i'll have the same problem with the verb "to close", but i don't have the 3 translations with me right now.

Thanks !
 
Hmmm..... tricky.

hiraku -- you can hiraku a door, but I think 'aku' is more common. You would use hiraku to open a bank account.
aku vs. akeru is just transitive vs intransitive.
mado ga aku (the window opens)
mado wo akeru (open a window)

"aku/aiteiru" should be a big part of anyone's vocabulary.
seki ga aiteiru (seat is empty)
omise ga aiteiru (the store is empty/not busy)
doa ga aiteiru (the door is open)


hajimeru vs hajimaru is also tranasitive vs intransitive.

kaishi suru... err.... it pretty much means hajimeru. I'm looking at example sentences in my dictionary but I think you could swap kaishi with hajimeru for all of them. :/

HTH
 
Hiraku and tojiru (the alternative to shimaru/shimeru (close)) also seem to be often used for things that open out, or in two directions and then close. Examples are books, eyes, gates, etc.
 
Okay, here's a good one for kaishi

試合開始は午後2時. Play begins [commences] at 2 p.m.

Great for use in compound words. You can't say shiai hajime. :)
 
kisaragi said:
Well ... let's just pretend i'm a kanji master ...

what do those last posts mean ? :p

If you have japanese language installed on your computer, copy the kanji you can't read and paste into Word. Then, with the language set to Japanese right click on the kanji you have pasted into Word. It should show different kanji with the same pronunication, as well as the hiragana and katakana.
 
GaijinPunch said:
Hmmm..... tricky.

hiraku -- you can hiraku a door, but I think 'aku' is more common. You would use hiraku to open a bank account.
aku vs. akeru is just transitive vs intransitive.
mado ga aku (the window opens)
mado wo akeru (open a window)

"aku/aiteiru" should be a big part of anyone's vocabulary.
seki ga aiteiru (seat is empty)
omise ga aiteiru (the store is empty/not busy)
doa ga aiteiru (the door is open)


hajimeru vs hajimaru is also tranasitive vs intransitive.

kaishi suru... err.... it pretty much means hajimeru. I'm looking at example sentences in my dictionary but I think you could swap kaishi with hajimeru for all of them. :/

HTH

「教科書の2ページをひらいてください」BEST
「教科書の2ページをあけてください」OK
「教科書の2ページをあいてください」NG→開くは自動詞 😅
 
Index said:
面白いですね。ナガシマさんは武道をやりますか。

omoshiroi desu ne? Nagashimasan wa budou o yarimasuka

面白い = omoshiroi = interesting
面 = omo = face
白 = shiro = white
武道 = budou = martial arts,bushido
武 = bu,mu means warrior and is only used in combinations with other kanji to form a word (correct me if I'm wrong ppl)
道 = michi = way, method
 
Index said:
面白いですね。ナガシマさんは武道をやりますか。

やるかやらないか分かりませんが、ドラゴンボールの「天下一武道会」遠回しの言及だと思いますよ。永島さんはドラゴンボールのファンでしたか。
 
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