コップを使ってやさしい日本語を勉強しよう

What’s the difference between “wareru” and “waru” in Japanese?

Japanese often has two verbs where English has one, split by who does the acting. 割れる (wareru) means “to break” on its own — ガラスのコップは落とすと割れる, “a glass cup breaks if you drop it.” 割る (waru) means someone breaks it — コップを割る, “to break a cup.” With 割れる, the thing that breaks takes が (コップが割れる); with 割る, the thing someone breaks takes を (コップを割る).

These self-move / other-move pairs (自動詞・他動詞) are everywhere, and this clip quietly shows another: 乾かす (“I dry it,” コップを乾かす) versus 乾く (“it dries,” コップが乾いたら) — same root, two verbs. Learning them in pairs — 入る/入れる (go in / put in), 開く/開ける (open) — is one of the biggest level-up moments in Japanese.