What's the difference between 開く and 開ける？

[untmdsprt]

A Japanese friend of mine was trying to explain the difference between the two. Can anyone else shed some light on when you use 開く「ひらく」and 開ける「あける」?

He was saying that books, computer files, etc. use 開く whereas CDs, laptops, doors, and windows use 開ける。


Thanks!!

[jemstone]

i suspect that the difference is probably on the object itself.. if it has some kind of a door or something.. like in your friend's example, a window or a door, there is an action of opening something... like opening a door, opening the CD casing...

i'm not sure why book is in the other category (maybe coz it doesn't have a door-like mechanism..), but the other category seems like things that you open but does not have a door of some kind. again in your friend's example, computer files has no door, but you "open" it. probably for email or sms you'd use ひらく as well.

[untmdsprt]

I thought I had it but when we got to boxes, I got lost. In Apple's new Dictionary app here's the following for both (I believe it's the Progressive Japanese-English dictionary):

ひらく【開く】
1 〔あける，あく〕open⇒あける(開ける)
ふたを開く｜lift [take off] the lid
包みを開く｜open [undo] a parcel / open [untie] a package
扇子を開く｜open [unfold] a fan
本の38ページを開きなさい｜Open your book(s) to [at] page 38.
戸はすぐに開いた｜The door opened at once.
口を開く｜open one's mouth (▼比喩的にも用いる)
彼が美術について最初に私の目を開いてくれた｜He first opened my eyes to the arts.
開かれた大学にしなければならない｜We must open up the university. / The university must not remain an ivory tower.
土地の人はよそ者になかなか心を開かない｜The local people do not open up easily to strangers.

あける【開ける】
1 〔開く〕open; 〔包装などを〕undo
ドアを開ける｜open a door / 〔鍵を使って〕unlock a door
ドアを乱暴に開ける｜throw [fling] a door open
箱のふたを開ける｜lift the lid of a box / open [take the lid off] a box
(本の) 25ページを開けなさい｜[Open your book(s) at / Turn to] page 25.
窓を壊して開けた｜He broke the window open.
窓は開けておいてください｜Please leave the windows open.
包みを開ける｜undo [unwrap] a package
夜中の12時まで鍵は開けておく｜The door is left unlocked until twelve midnight.

Maybe Naomi先生 can do a lesson on this.

[jemstone]

it does seem like ひらく has some abstract idea of open.. like perhaps "open up the university", or "open my eyes to the arts", or "opening up to strangers", while あける seem to have a more literal meaning like "open the door".

but i'm confused with the book and the package though. in both explanations, they seem identical.

and i'm all for the idea of someone shedding light on this subject. =)

[markystar]

HOT TOPIC!

actually a series based on this is in the works already!!!

[untmdsprt]

Cool!!! Keep us posted on the lesson numbers.

[jemstone]

yay!!! it's gonna be cleared up soon!! =D

[Outkast]

If anyone is still curious, this is a matter of transitive versus intransitive verbs...


開く "something opens"

(The store always opens at 8:00.)


*versus*


開ける "to open something"

(Because of New Years, she did not open the store today.)

[JonB]

I can never get that one straight so I looking forward to that being straightened out...

[Psy]

This is where it gets really cool to be able to read a Japanese to Japanese dictionary-- no loss in translation. Please note that ひらく and あける are BOTH transitive verbs, meaning that in both cases YOU are opening SOMETHING and not SOMETHING is opening. Anyway, to the fun:

開ける（あける): v.
to open something that is closed.
to open up a hole
to start (something)

ドアを開ける- "to open a door"
壁にあなを開ける- "to put a hole in the wall."
店を開ける - "to open a/the store."

Contrast:
to open something that was closed
to extend/widen something
to bloom (no, as a transitive verb I don't understand why this is here, but it is actually used this way)
to make a distance
to cultivate land
to begin something
to carry out a meeting/assembly

So as you can see, hiraku is used in a much, much broader sense of the word "open"-- shops, meetings, land, books-- whereas akeru is pretty much limited to doors, windows, and spaces in general. Excuse my laziness but right now I don't feel like looking up/risk screwing up my own examples for the 2nd one.

[untmdsprt]

HOT TOPIC!

actually a series based on this is in the works already!!!

Can you tell us the series if it's finished? I'd like to listen to it.

[the_haunted_boy]

HOT TOPIC!

actually a series based on this is in the works already!!!

Can you tell us the series if it's finished? I'd like to listen to it.

Also tell us what the episode is called, please.

[jbraswell]

I had this question a while back, too. After consulting Kodansha's Effective Japanese Usage Dictionary, the sentences in "real" Japanese that I see seem to largely conform to the explanation.

あける can mean 1) To create an opening by moving part of something that is closed, 2) To make space by removing things from where they were, including making time for something, 3) For a new time period to start. (Here it is intransitive.)

The Kanji for the above meanings are 開ける、空ける，and 明ける respectively.

ひらく means to to open something that is closed or to spread it out, especially something that has parts, like an umbrella, book, hand, legs, etc. When referring to a window or door, use this to refer to them opening *outward*, not sliding to one side. Finally, it can also mean to open ceremonies or a business, etc.