According to Wanikani, 上がる means “to rise” and 上げる means “to raise”. I would usually use those words interchangeably in English, is it different in Japan? Or can I just add some synonyms and avoid the confusion?
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This is the difference between a transitive and intransitive verb.
To raise requires an object to receive the action, it’s a transitive verb. I raise the glass.
To rise doesn’t have an object to receive the action, it’s an intransitive verb. I rise from bed.
They really aren’t interchangeable in English.
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The term “transitivity” captures the spirit perfectly fine, but I always find it easier to think of it with the Japanese terms: self-move and other-move verbs.
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I don’t think you actually use them interchangeably. Or is English not your native language? Consider these:
The water level raises and spills over the side of the tub.
I バラ my hands to the sky and screamed in frustration.
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Thanks everyone, thinking about it now they aren’t interchangeable. I’ll just remember the difference.
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You might find this video on self-move/other-move verbs helpful. It’s going to come up a lot in the course of your WK studies.
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I’ll be sure to take a look.
Thanks for the help!
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I think WK does a great job of providing a reasonable English word/phrase for transitive and intransitive verbs. Just remember that Japanese distinguishes more between transitive/intransitive than English and that you need to memorize both (WK helps you do this automatically).
One caution since you’re just getting started: WK is more about reading rather than speaking or writing, but I’d still suggest memorizing the WK-provided English meanings rather than adding your own synonyms (unless you’re absolutely certain about what you’re adding). It will help when speaking Japanese if you recall the correct transitive form.
While there are some general rules/patterns (and exceptions) to which form is which, I think rote memorization for each individual verb is better than trying to apply rules.
Grammar rules in any language are hard. Even the words to describe grammar ideas are pretty dense (e.g. “transitive” vs. “intransitive”). Memorization via an SRS like WaniKani is easier to my way of thinking than understanding and applying “rules”.
Personally, I like to think of complete Japanese sentences when reviewing vocabulary in WK before submitting my (English) answer. If you can use「を」then it’s the transitive form:
何々を上げます (I) raise something
vs.
上がります (I) rise
Don’t worry about it too much right now. Just trust the system as designed. As long as you do your reviews daily, it really works!
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I spent too long trying to figure out what was wrong with these sentences haha. Just a note: the past tense of “rise” is “rose” not “rised.”
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Trust darkness_RISING to point that out. 
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Yup, that’s me! Expert on all tenses of ‘rise’.
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I have this saved because it comes up a lot. But here’s a good way to remember all those.
- Say 上がる
- Stand up.
- Say 上げる
- Raise your right hand.
- Say 下がる
- Sit down.
- Say 下げる
- Lower your right hand.
Repeat this a few times and it should stick. Feeling silly while doing it will also help it stick. As will saying it in a sing-song voice. Preferably to the tune of Yakko’s World.
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The cognitive dissonance is too much for me.
Edit: The raises-rose switch, rather than the spelling mistake.
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Thanks, fixed it!
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These are ones of level one which i still haven’t burn. I think i might need help too lol
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That was so useful!!! thanks for sharing.
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I still occasionally write seeked instead of sought… @Saida and my littlest kitten is at the stage where he uses the irregular form plus -ed for good measure: I rosed my hands to the sky!
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That is lethally cute!
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Aww that is cute
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I blame it on time crunch and distraction. I might have written it after finishing a 125 item review, just before starting Japanese class. While my mother was watching an interesting Dutch show that had the daughter of a Surinamese hero on. My brain was not liking English all that much.
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