What's the difference between 折【お】る
and 折【お】れる
? According to my dictionary, they both mean to break
or to fold
. When would you use one over the other? These verbs are on the JLPT N4 vocabulary list.
Answer
This is an example of a [自他]{じ・た} pair. These pairs are an important concept to learn in Japanese because there are a ton of them! [Here]{LLLL} [are]{LLL} [several]{LLLLLLL} [resources]{LLLLLLLLL} with lots of examples and good explanations.
折る is a [他動詞]{た・どう・し} which is a transitive verb. This means an external agent/influence performs the action in question. You can remember this because 他 is also read as 「ほか」, meaning "(an)other"; so something other than the object itself performs the action on the object. With transitive verbs, you'll have を to show that the external agent performs the action on something. In the case of 折る you might have something like
- 花子は左腕の骨を折った → Hanako broke (the bone of) her left arm
- 僕は枝を踏んで折った → I stepped on the branch and broke it
- 手紙を折る → Fold a letter
折れる is a [自動詞]{じ・どう・し} which is an intransitive verb. This means the action happens to the thing/object itself, and the object is the focus. You can remember this by remembering 自 means "itself", like 自分. With intransitive verbs, since the focus is the thing itself, you'll have は or が to show this focus. In case of 折れる:
- 枝が折れた → The branch (itself) broke
- 本が落ちて、何枚ものページが折れた → The book fell, and several pages were bent/"folded".
If you want some extra confusion after you learn the basics, check out
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