So, I’m going through WK and I’ve learned 上げる, and WK says this:
“Also keep in mind that this is the transitive version of this verb, meaning you are doing the action of raising something (versus something just raising). One way to guess that this is the transitive version is by looking at the second to last kana. If it’s an え sound, often times it’s the transitive form (though not always, so be careful!).”
THEN I learned 切れる, and WK says this:
“In this case, it’s to be cut, which is different than “to cut” because in this case you’re not doing the cutting action. When a verb ends in an える sound (in this case れる) it’s usually going to be the passive form, which is the verb form where something is happening but you’re not the one causing it.”
They kinda say opposite things don’t they?
So now I’m confused about seeing える. It’s mostly transitive right?
I think the best thing to do is to direct you to the search bar, where “transitive” will yield hours of reading on this topic. Yes, it’s confusing. Yes, the “rules” have loads of exceptions. Yes, WK explains it poorly.
Very astute! As @Leebo said, sadly WK explains this very poorly. Since you picked up on this so quickly, learn the meanings, and whether they are trans/intrans, and start studying grammar as soon as possible. Things will become more clear then. Good luck!
I think it’s the passive part that they messed up. They meant to say intransitive. In that sense, the える/れる part makes sense, even though the rule isn’t worth much.