Japanese

Alternative forms

• (to understand): 解る
• (to distinguish): 判る

Verb

分かる ‎(intransitive, godan conjugation, hiragana わかる, romaji wakaru)

1. to understand
2. to tell (one thing from another), to distinguish
3. to recognize, to realize
4. to become known, to turn out

Usage notes

The Japanese verb wakaru is most often glossed as to understand. However, wakaru is intransitive, and it takes the thing that is understood, distinguished, or recognized as the subject (usually marked by particle が ‎(ga)), and not the object (usually marked by particle を ‎(o)). Strictly speaking, wakaru is thus closer to English to be understandable, as the verb wakaru describes the thing itself, unlike English to understand, which describes the action of the person doing the understanding, distinguishing, or recognizing.

Wakaru can take an agent (what would be the subject of the English verb to understand) marked by the particle に ‎(ni).

• 複雑 (ふくざつ)でも、（私 (わたし)に）この事情 (じじょう)が分 (わ)かる。

  Fukuzatsu de mo, (watashi ni) kono jijō ga wakaru.

  Although it's complicated, this situation is understandable (to me).

Compare the difference in usage of transitive verb 知る ‎(shiru, “to know”).

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

References

1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3