Aku, Akeru, Shimaru and Shimeru: The Japanese Open and Close Verbs

Aku and akeru: the door opens, you open the door

Aku is what a door, a window, a lid or a shop does when it opens. Nobody appears in the sentence; the thing that opens takes ga. Akeru is what a person does to that door or lid. The object takes o, and there is an actor even when the actor is left unsaid. Both verbs use the kanji 開, so in writing you tell them apart by the okurigana: 開く is aku and 開ける is akeru.

The choice carries meaning. Doa ga aita, the door opened, tells your listener that you did not do it, or that it does not matter who did. Doa o aketa puts a hand on the handle. Japanese speakers reach for the intransitive far more than English speakers expect, especially when something happened by itself or when nobody wants to assign responsibility.

A few fixed uses come up early. Me ga aku is your eyes opening in the morning; kuchi o akeru, open your mouth, is what a dentist says. Ana ga aku, a hole opens, is how you say a sock has a hole in it, and it uses the kanji 空く, empty space, rather than 開く.

Shimaru and shimeru: the shop closes, you close the lid

Shimaru is the intransitive partner of aku: the door shuts, the shop closes, the deadline closes. It takes ga. Shimeru is the transitive partner of akeru: you close the door, shut the window, screw on a lid, tighten a belt or turn off a tap. It takes o. Both use the kanji 閉, and the te forms shimatte and shimete are the ones you will use most, because open and close are usually described as states.

Shimeru stretches further than English close. Neji o shimeru is to tighten a screw, shīto beruto o shimeru is to fasten a seat belt, and jaguchi o shimeru is to turn off a tap. Shopkeepers say mise o shimeru for closing up at night and, more seriously, for closing down for good. Shimekiru, with kiru added, means to close applications or a deadline.

Do not confuse shimeru, to close, with shimau, to put away. Kaban ni shimau means to put something in a bag; kaban o shimeru means to close the bag. Listen for the vowel in the second syllable.

Hiraku and tojiru: books, flowers, files and meetings

Hiraku and tojiru cover things that unfold or shut along their whole surface rather than swinging on a hinge: books, umbrellas, fans, flowers, wings, files on a computer, and events. Hiraku works both ways, hon o hiraku, to open a book, and hana ga hiraku, a flower opens. Tojiru is mainly transitive: hon o tojiru, me o tojiru, fairu o tojiru, and the menu items on a Japanese computer say 開く and 閉じる.

Hiraku also has a figurative range: mise o hiraku is to open a new business, kaigi o hiraku is to hold a meeting, and kokoro o hiraku is to open your heart. For the formal opening and closing of a meeting or ceremony, Japanese switches to the compounds kaikai and heikai, so the chair says kore de kaikai shimasu and kore de heikai to shimasu. Kaiten and heiten are the daily opening and closing of a shop, and the sign on the door reads 開店 or 閉店.

Shop hours: aite imasu ka and nanji ni shimarimasu ka

The most useful sentences in this family are the ones you say on the phone or at a door. Ima aite imasu ka asks whether the place is open now, and staff answer hai, aite imasu or sumimasen, kyō wa oyasumi desu. Nanji made aite imasu ka asks until what time they stay open, and nanji ni shimarimasu ka asks when they close. All use the intransitive verbs, because from your side the shop simply is or is not open.

Watch the tense. Nanji ni shimarimasu ka uses the plain non-past because closing is a scheduled event later today. Mō shimatte imasu ka asks whether it is already closed, a state, so it takes te iru. Aite imasu also covers a free seat or room, because that aku is the 空く of empty space: kono seki, aite imasu ka asks whether a chair is taken.

Akeru for making time and space

Akeru has a second life written 空ける, to make something empty or free: time, a seat, a room, a schedule, a hand. Jikan o akeru is to free up time for someone, yotei o akete oku is to keep your schedule clear, seki o akeru is to vacate a seat, and ie o akeru is to be away from home. The intransitive partner is 空く: te ga aku means your hands become free, and jikan ga aku means a slot opens up. A taxi showing 空車, kūsha, is free, and a toilet with a green 空 is unoccupied.

If a colleague asks ashita no gogo, aite imasu ka, they mean are you free tomorrow afternoon. The natural yes is hai, aite imasu; the natural no is chotto yotei ga arimashite, which avoids saying you are busy outright.

The whole family in one table

The intransitive and transitive members sit next to each other below so you can see the pattern: the intransitive verb takes ga and describes the thing, the transitive verb takes o and needs an actor.

The kanji 開 covers aku, akeru and hiraku, so on a sign you often cannot tell which reading is meant. Use the okurigana when there is any and the context when there is not.

Te iru and te aru: describing open and closed states

Japanese describes a state with te iru on the intransitive verb: mado ga aite iru, the window is open; doa ga shimatte iru, the door is shut. Te aru on the transitive verb, mado ga akete aru, also reports an open window but adds that someone opened it deliberately and left it that way. If your flatmate asks why the window is open, aite ita means you found it like that, while akete oita means you left it open, probably to air the room. Te oku is the action of leaving something in a state; te aru is the result seen afterwards.

• Mado ga aite iru: the window is open, no comment on who opened it
• Mado ga akete aru: the window has been left open on purpose
• Mado o akete oku: I will open the window and leave it that way
• Mado ga aita: the window opened, a completed change
• Mado o aketa: I or someone opened the window

The same set works with shimeru: shimatte iru, shimete aru, shimete oku. Kagi ga shimete aru, the door has been locked, is one of the most common te aru sentences you will hear.

Learner mistakes and how to fix them

The first mistake is pairing o with the intransitive verb or ga with the transitive one. Doa o aku and doa ga akeru both sound wrong. Fix it by chanting the pairs: ga aku, o akeru, ga shimaru, o shimeru. The second is choosing the transitive verb for something you did not do; if the wind blew the door shut, say doa ga shimatta, because doa o shimeta claims you did it.

The third is state versus event. Mise ga shimarimasu means the shop will close later today; mise ga shimatte imasu means it is closed now. Learners say the first when they mean the second and get a puzzled reply about times. The fourth is akeru for books and files, which is understood but marks you as a learner; hiraku sounds more natural. The general rule for predicting which verb of a pair is transitive is covered in the transitive and intransitive verb guide on this blog, and this family is the best place to practise it.