More About Different Types of Verbs

1. Vocabulary List

Japanese	Romaji	English
つける	tsukeru	to turn on (transitive)
つく	tsuku	to come on / turn on by itself (intransitive)
けす / 消す（けす）	kesu	to turn off (transitive)
きえる / 消える（きえる）	kieru	to go out / turn off by itself (intransitive)
電気（でんき）	denki	light / electricity
エアコン	eakon	air conditioner
テレビ	terebi	television
コンピューター	konpyūtā	computer
暗い（くらい）	kurai	dark
だれも	dare mo	nobody (with negative verb)
映画（えいが）	eiga	film / movie
終わる（おわる）	owaru	to end / to finish

2. Grammar & Sentences

Four-verb set: on / off — transitive and intransitive

This lesson extends the transitive/intransitive pair pattern from Section 3 to cover turning things on and off.

Action	Verb	Type	Particle	Meaning
turn on	つける	Transitive	を	someone turns something on
come on	つく	Intransitive	が	something comes on by itself
turn off	消す	Transitive	を	someone turns something off
go out	消える	Intransitive	が	something goes out by itself

つける vs つく — "To turn on"

Structure (transitive): (someone) は + (something) を + つけます
Structure (intransitive): (something) が + つきます

Japanese	Romaji	English
けいたさんは電気をつけます。	Keita-san wa denki o tsukemasu.	Keita will turn on the light.
部屋の電気をつけます。	Heya no denki o tsukemasu.	I'll turn on the light in the room.
テレビをつけます。	Terebi o tsukemasu.	I'll turn on the TV.
電気がつきます。	Denki ga tsukimasu.	The light will come on (by itself).
テレビがつきます。	Terebi ga tsukimasu.	The TV will come on (by itself).
映画が終わったら、電気がつきます。	Eiga ga owattara, denki ga tsukimasu.	When the film ends, the lights will come on.
コンピューターがつきますよ。	Konpyūtā ga tsukimasu yo.	The computer will come on.

Note: Even though we press the power button on a computer, the switch makes the computer come on by itself — so we use つきます (intransitive) for the computer turning on.

消す vs 消える — "To turn off / to go out"

Structure (transitive): (someone) は + (something) を + 消します
Structure (intransitive): (something) が + 消えます

Japanese	Romaji	English
けいたさんは電気を消します。	Keita-san wa denki o keshimasu.	Keita will turn off the light.
ちかさんは、テレビを消します。	Chika-san wa, terebi o keshimasu.	Chika will turn off the TV.
帰るときは、コンピューターを消してください。	Kaeru toki wa, konpyūtā o keshite kudasai.	Please turn off the computer when you go back home.
会社に行くとき、まどを閉めて電気を消します。	Kaisha ni iku toki, mado o shimete denki o keshimasu.	When I go to work, I close the window and turn off the lights.
電気が消えます。	Denki ga kiemasu.	The light will go out (by itself).
電気が消えて、暗くなりました。	Denki ga kiete, kurai ni narimashita.	The light went out and it got dark.
消えました。	Kiemashita.	(The light) has gone out.
だれもいないとき電気が消えます。	Dare mo inai toki denki ga kiemasu.	When nobody is there, the light will go out.

だれも + negative — "Nobody"

だれも followed by a negative verb means "nobody".

Structure: だれも + [negative verb]
Key Phrase: だれもいないとき電気が消えます。(Dare mo inai toki denki ga kiemasu.) — "When nobody is there, the light will go out."

Note: だれも by itself means "anyone/everyone". The negative verb turns it into "nobody".

てもいいです — "You may / It's okay to…" (Permission)

Review: used to give permission for someone to do something.

Structure: [Verb て-form] + もいいです
Key Phrase: まどを開けてもいいですよ。(Mado o akete mo ii desu yo.) — "You may also open the window."

Japanese	Romaji	English
あつかったら、エアコンをつけてください。まどを開けてもいいですよ。	Atsukattara, eakon o tsukete kudasai. Mado o akete mo ii desu yo.	Please turn on the air-conditioner if it is hot. You may also open the window.
サッカーを見たいから、テレビをつけてください。	Sakkā o mitai kara, terebi o tsukete kudasai.	Because I want to watch football, please turn on the TV.

Particle check summary

Sentence	Particle	Why?
電気をつけます	を	Someone turns the light on
電気がつきます	が	The light comes on by itself
電気を消します	を	Someone turns the light off
電気が消えます	が	The light goes out by itself

3. Learning Context

Topic: Extending transitive/intransitive pairs to "turn on" (つける/つく) and "turn off" (消す/消える)
Key Structures: を + transitive (someone acts); が + intransitive (thing acts by itself); だれも + negative = "nobody"; てもいいです for permission
Common mistake: Using を with 消えます ✗ (e.g. 電気を消えます) — 消える is intransitive, must use が ✓
Tricky case: Computer turning on uses つきます (intransitive) because the machine activates by itself once you press the switch

4. Progress Tracker

Field	Detail
Current Level	Intermediate B1
Chapter / Topic	Chapter 10 — A new life in Japan
Completion	Section 4 of 11
Latest Performance	93% (＋15 stars)