知る VS 分かる
The verbs 知る and 分かる are both translated as “to know/understand,” and although it may seem easy just to assign one translation for one verb and call it a day, there is a lot more to differentiating these two verbs apart.
Differentiating the Two
First, consider the following sentence that serves as a diagnostic as to whether you intrinsically understand how 知る and 分かる differ.
1.
A：「蜂」と「雀蜂」の違いって説明できますか。
B：なんとなく分かっているような気もするけれど、
知らないような気もしますよね。
A: Can you explain the difference between a “bee” and a “wasp”?
B: I feel like I sort of get the difference, but then I also feel like I don’t know.
- 知る shows the acquisition of information, knowledge, experience, and in the progressive form (～てる), it indicates that the speaker has already learned of or become aware of the matter at hand.
- 分かる indicates true comprehension. It can either be what oneself has grasped or what has become clear to everyone. When it is used with the progressive form (), it indicates that has been dealing with some realization for a while.
It would seem that translating 知る as to “comprehend” is inadequate in light of other phrases such as “to realize,” “to know/learn (of),” or even “to sense.” It would also seem safe to view 分かる as meaning “to grasp/understand/comprehend.” Just from the translation options alone, there appears to be a clear distinction in understanding implied by these two verbs.
Now, let’s turn our attention to how these verbs are defined in Japanese dictionaries. You’ll find that doing so may put a lot of these key words into scrutiny, or at least force you to consider the overall context you are trying to picture in both languages.
FROM A DICTIONARY STANDPOINT
【知る】［動ラ五］(Transitive)
①To recognize the existence and/or occurrence of something.
2. 住民のほとんどは事故が起きたことをニュースで知った。
Most of the residents [realized/found out] an accident had occurred via the news.
②To sense/perceive.
3. 昨夜の地震は知らなかったわ。
I didn’t sense/realize/know there was an earthquake last night.
③To ascertain/grasp/be conscious of the value, substance, or situation of X.
4. 世界の人口はどれくらいか知っていますか。
[Do you know/are you aware of] how much the world’s population is?
④To remember/be well-versed in a matter.
5. 漢字をよく知っていますね。
You know Kanji very well, don’t you?
⑤To experience/go through.
6. 君は世の中の苦労を知らない。
You know not the hardships of the world.
⑥To remember from study.
7. カタルーニャ語なら、少し知っていますよ。
If it’s Catalan we’re talking about, I know some.
⑦To get acquainted with.
8. 知っている人にばったり会いました。
I happened to meet someone [I know/I’m acquainted with].
⑧Usually with negative constructions, to be concerned/have to do with.
9. 俺の知ったことじゃねえよ。
It has nothing to do with me.
Orthography Note: For ③～⑥, 知る may be alternatively spelled as 識る.
【分かる】［動ラ五］(Ergative1 Intransitive Verb)
①To clearly discern/comprehend the meaning of something and/or how it differs from something else.
10. 訳が分からない。
I’m at a lost of understanding.
②To determine the truth.
11. その犯人の身元が分かりました。
The criminal’s identity has been [determined/found out].
③To really get things/emotions; to have common sense.
12. 日本の政府にも、たまに話の分かる人がいるんだね。
Occasionally, you get a person in the Japanese government that gets things, too.
④Equivalent to “I know, right!”
13. その気持ち、わかる！
I know that feeling!
⑤To accept a request from someone.
14.「明日までに終わらせるんだぞ！」「うん、わかった！」
“Get this done by tomorrow!” “K, got it!”
Orthography Note: ①③ may be spelled as 解る, and ② may be spelled as 判る. It is also very common to see it spelled simply in Hiragana. As such, for the remainder of this lesson 分かる and わかる will be used interchangeably.
Semantic Differences
To summarize these definitions, 知る concerns what goes into the mind, and 分かる concerns how knowledge is actually processed in the mind. How this difference manifests may require some thought at first, but with plenty of examples, you will go from having 知った！ them to having 分かった！them.
15. その時に、ラーメンの味を知った。
I was then acquainted with the taste of ramen.
16. ああ、分かった。
Ah, I get it now.
17. こうだって、わかるか？
Like this, see?
18. 出席するかどうか分かりません。
I don’t know whether I will attend or not.
19. 検索してみれば分かるよ。
You’ll understand once you look it up.
20. 歌詞の意味なんて分からないように出来てるよ。
Lyrics are crafted so that you don’t understand what they mean.
22. 旦那が分かってないのに録音してるからって適当に受け答えして帰ってきちゃったの。
Although my husband didn’t actually understand them, he just gave simple answers and came home since he “had everything recorded.”
23. わからない単語があったから辞書を引いたのに、日本語でも英語でも説明が分からなくて、笑っちゃった。
Despite looking up words that I didn’t know, I laughed at how I didn’t get the explanation in Japanese or the English.
24. 考えれば、分かります。
If you think about it, you’ll understand.
25. ゴルフやったことないから何のことか分からない。
I’ve never played golf, so I don’t know what it is.
26. ググってフェアウェーとグリーンの違いを知った。
I learned the difference between a fairway and a green by googling.
27. 青信号っていう言葉が出来上がっちゃってるから青じゃない場合になんて言ったらいいか分からないや。
Since we have this phrase “aoshingo,” I have no idea what we should call it when it’s not blue.
28. 彼女はその人が日本人であることも知っていたはずなんだけど。
Though she should have [known/realized] that the person was Japanese.
30. アメリカではタコも珍しい？知らなかった！
Octopus is also rare in America? I had no idea!
GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES
Some conjugations are not possible with 分かる due to semantic conflicts. For instance, it cannot be used with the passive/potential auxiliary verb ～れる.
Consequently, its 敬語 forms are お分かりだ and お分かりになる respectively. The word 分かれる does exist but with the meaning “to be be separated.”
31. お分かりになる方、教えていただけますと幸いです。
I would happy if anyone who understands (this) could teach me.
Even so, its 敬語 forms are avoided in second-person questions as it is not deemed proper to confront someone’s knowledge in a formal setting. One must instead use a rephrasing.
32a. 以上です、お分かりになりましたか。X
32b. 以上です、ご不明な点はございますか。〇
This concludes (my talk); is there anything unclear?
Traditionally, 分かる is not paired with grammar points pertaining to volitional control of situations, as it pertains to inherent understanding. As such, it does not possess command forms – affirmative or negative – and it cannot be used with the volitional auxiliary verbs ～う・ましょう.
In recent years, it has gained the ability to be used with ～たい and ～うとする to indicate a sincere desire to understand something. In such scenarios, the use of ～を to mark the object is becoming more and more accepted.
33. どうしても日本人の魂を分かりたい。
I want to understand the Japanese soul at all cost.
34. 彼氏の気持ちを分かろうとしてるわよ。
I’m trying to understand how my boyfriend feels.
35. あなたのこと｛を・が｝分かりたいの！
I (really) wanna know you!
36. 分かりたいなら、よく調べなさい。
If you really want to understand, look into it well.
Without the intervention of these auxiliaries, showing a willful desire to understand something is still outside the semantic realm of 分かる, and even with their help, it is not “proper.” One must instead use other verbs such as 理解する (to understand) or 把握する (to comprehend/grasp), which do not share this restriction. As for how these verbs differ from 分かる and 知る, they are deemed more technical, appearing most often in the written language.
37a. 日本人の考え方を理解するために日本語を勉強しています。〇
37b. 日本人の考え方を分かるために日本語を勉強しています。X
I am studying Japanese to understand the Japanese mindset.
38a. まだ状況を把握しようとしています。〇
38b. まだ状況を解ろうとしています。△
I am trying to ascertain the situation.
Although 分かる cannot be used with the potential ～れる or ～ことができる, for that matter, based on the grounds of not indicating volition, it can occasionally be seen with the potential auxiliary ～得る, but this potential auxiliary is particularly unique in that it is objective in its portrayal of attaining abilities. This offsets the ungrammaticality that potential forms pose. Even so, 理解できる is by far the more natural and common expression.
39a. 原発事故の恐ろしいことを解り得た。〇
39b. 原発事故の恐ろしいことが理解できた。◎
I gained an understanding for the frightening aspects of a nuclear accident.
Marking the Subject of わかる
The subject of 分かる may be traditionally followed by が or に, with the intervening of は being a separate grammatical dynamic.
The use of に（は） is particularly prevalent when the subject and object are both present to avoid the doubling of が, as it is also used to mark the object of わかる, although this is not inherently problematic (Ex. 43). Speakers also prefer に（は） to emphatically point out where the knowledge in question resides. On the other hand, に（は） is not preferred when the understanding of something is invariable.
40. ねえ、君にいったい何がわかるか？
So, what exactly do you know?
41. 分かる人には分かる、それだけだ。
Those who understand understand; that’s all.
42. 生徒が本当に分かっているかを生徒自身の言葉で言ってもらいましょう。
Have your students tell you in their own words whether they’re really understanding.
43. アレクサンドル・グロタンディークという人が講義をしているとき、生徒が内容が分からなくて素数の具体例として誤って57を挙げてしまった。
As a person by the name of Alexander Grothendieck was lecturing, he accidentally mistakenly gave 57 as a concrete example of a prime number when his students weren’t understanding the material.
As for marking the object, the use of が is imperative, but because of the growing acceptance of を when used with ～たい, ～てくれる, ～てほしい, etc., it is becoming more prevalent in casual speech beyond these grammar points.
44. 愛猫は飼い主の言葉｛が◎・を △｝どこまでわかっている？
How much of an owner’s words does their beloved cat understanding?
Forms of 知る
Because 知る is a normal transitive verb, it does not share the same restrictions on its conjugations that 分かる has. Meaning, 知りたい, 知られる (passive), and 知ることができる are all possible and used heavily.
45. 何がウクライナで起きているかをもっと知りたいと思う。
I want to know more about what is happening in Ukraine.
46. どうすれば神を知ることができますか。
How can you know God?
As for 知れる, although it can be synonymous with 知ることができる, it is one example of a handful of so-called spontaneous intransitive verbs that aided in the creation of the （ら）れる potential conjugation, and it deserves a separate complication due to its complexity.
47. この現象はよく知られている。
This phenomenon is well known.
48. 相続人の中に、行方が知れない、連絡先が分からない人がいる。
There is someone among the inheritors that (they) don’t how how to contact whose whereabouts are unknown.
Tense Differences
▽知る ≠ 知っている
Unlike 分かる, 知る has a tense restriction that prevents it from being interpreted as “do you know?” when used in the non-past form in a question. What’s more, we see a huge difference in interpretation whether it is left in plain speech or polite speech, with the politeness marker being just enough context to make such a change in meaning, which is rather irregular in the scope of Japanese grammar.
49. 知りますか？△・？？？
Will you sense/notice?
50a. 知るか。
50b. （誰が）知るか。(か interpreted as being sarcastic and rhetorical)
50a. As if I’d know
50b. Who cares.
知る falls under a semantic class of verbs known in Japanese as 瞬間動詞, meaning that the action at hand is understood to be instantaneous. Being in the state of knowing, which is what would be meant by “know” must be expressed with 知る being conjugated into the progressive.
51. 知っていますか？
Do you know?
Putting aside, it is not the case that the non-past form 知る is not used. To the contrary, it is very common but with nuances borne from the idea of putting information in the mind – “to find out,” “to sense/notice,” etc.
52. 皆さんって、新しい曲を知る時って、どういった経緯で知りますか？
When everyone finds out about new songs, how do you go about finding out?
53a. いまび先生のことを知りますか？X
53b. いまび先生のことを知っていますか？
Do you know about Imabi Sensei?
54. 神のみぞ知る。
Only God knows.
It would be remiss of us not to mention the proverb in Ex. 54, which appears to contradict the tense restriction that 知る has, but because this set phrase has existed well before the formation of progressive forms in Japanese, it may be viewed as being irregular, or it could be reinterpreted as being a hypothetical in which the action itself has not technically occurred yet.
▽わかる ≠ わかっている?
Although わかる can express current understanding by nature of not being a 瞬間動詞, that still does not mean it is the exact same as its progressive form わかっている.
55a. 試験の内容はもうわかると思う。〇
55b. 試験の内容はもうわかっていると思う。
I’m sure you already know what’ll be on the exam.
Where these forms appear to overlap in the mind of an English native are situations like the following:
56. 勉強のやり方は分かっていますか？提出するかといってやみくもに学校の宿題などをやっているだけで実際は内容が解っていませんか？
Are you (really) understanding how to study? Are you just recklessly doing your homework at school just because you’re understand, but in actuality, you aren’t understanding the material?
It may seem harmless enough to swap out わかっている for 分かる in Ex. 56, which would still result in a grammatically sentence, but the nuance would be greatly altered. Here, the speaker is borderline accusative in drilling in that question to the listener as to whether they are actually understand or not. This is because わかっている implies that one has or should have long figured things out. As such, it is quite effective at being slightly respectful when scolding or scoffing back at someone.
57. 「一人でも感染者が出たら、全員辞退させるから！わかってるの？」
“If even just one person gets infected, (I/we) will make everyone pull out! You know that, right?!”
58. 「食べたあと、皿をちゃんと片づけなさいよ」「分かってるよ！」
“After you’re done eating, actually do the dishes!” “I know!”
わかる, on the other hand, would have a far more neutral tone when probing current understanding.
59. この言葉の意味はわかりますか。
Do you know what this word means?
Or, わかっている may be seen used in a neutral tone when describing whether a third person is “in the know.” Though, as “in the know” would suggest, the degree to which they know that is implied is still stronger.
60. 子供だから分からないというより、結構分かっていると思います。
Rather than them not understanding because they’re kids, I think they understand quite a bit.
▽知っている? わかる? わかっている?
The differences between 知る and 分かる are wide-ranging and seemingly convoluted at times, but having looked at how tense interacts with them, consider how these next two sentences ought to be interpreted.
61. 大統領のことを知っていますか。
Do you know of/about the president?
62. 大統領のことを｛分かります・分かっています｝か。△
Do you emotionally know the president?
Although 知っていますか is perfectly fine for asking whether someone knows someone, わかりますか・わかっていますか would imply a state of knowledge about someone that would be unnatural if suddenly asked without good reason and context.
Phrase Note: Be aware that “to know” as in to be acquainted with is 知り合っている, which incidentally utilizes 知る with the ending ～合う which indicates reciprocated action.
▽わかっていない or 知っていない?
Whereas 分かっていない is very common, 知っていない is almost always ungrammatical. To start tackling this problem, consider first what is meant by 知っている and わかっている.
- 知っている: Shows that you are in the state of keeping hold of some knowledge about something.
- 分かっている: Shows that you are, and have been, in the state of knowing the true essence of something.
63. 知っていますが、今はちょっと分かりません。
I recognize (X situation), but I don’t really grasp it at the moment.
64. 差別と区別すら解っていない。
(He/someone) doesn’t even understand the difference between “discrimination” and “differentiating.”
知らない VS 知っていない
知らない is deemed the standard negative form of 知っている – not 知っていない.
65. 「〇〇を知っていますか。」「いいえ、知りません。」
“Do you know about ##?” “No, I don’t.”
However, it is not true that 知っていない is entirely impossible. To understand how 知っていない functions, let’s reflect once more on how 知る functions in relation to tense and aspect markers.
66a. 昇平が麻里子の住所を知った。
Shohei found out Mariko’s address.
66b. 昇平が麻里子の住所を知らない。
Shohei doesn’t know Mariko’s address.
66c. 昇平が麻里子の住所を知っていない。
Shohei knows Mariko’s address.
66d. 昇平が麻里子の住所を知らなかった。
Shohei [didn’t known/hadn’t] known Mariko’s address.
Even for “hadn’t known,” we find that ～ていなかった is not used. Whereas 知る in the non-past acts as an instantaneous verb, capturing that moment of finding out, it functions as a condition verb in the negative, in which it describes the state of not knowing. If you wanted to state that someone will never find out, that is the negative rendition of its instantaneous use, and that too is expressed by 知らない.
65. 昇平は明日になっても麻里子の住所を知らないだろう。
Shohei will probably not know/find out Mariko’s address even tomorrow.
Yet, 知っていない does function in rare instances. 久野 (1983) is the most authoritative analysis of its use that has been posited. In his analysis, there are two factors that govern the grammaticality of 知っていない: a syntactic component and a semantic component.
The syntactic component is that when 知っていない is juxtaposed with 知っている, or said juxtaposition is inferred, 知っていない may be used, and this likelihood increases with derivatives. Nonetheless, 知らない remains dominant in all instances.
66a. 知っていようが知っていなかろうが 〇
66b. 知っていようが知らなかろうが ◎
Whether you know or not
67a. 知っていても知っていなくても
67b. 知っていても知らなくても ◎
Even if you do or do not know
68. ケイトさんはたとえ韓国語を｛知らなくても ◎・知っていなくても 〇｝あのKPOP運営会社に採用されていただろう。
Kate would have definitely been hired by the KPOP management company even if she didn’t know Korean.
As for the semantic component, he posits that 知っていない focuses on 完了性, which correlates to the idea of perfect tenses. The core meaning of ～ている is the progressive aspect and/or the aspect of an effect being maintained. In addition to this, it also has a perfect tense aspect to it: the situation has been a thing since before a set time and maintains its effect beyond that set time. For instance, in “I have eaten it,” the act of eating happened before the present, the time of eating was before the present, but the act of the object being eaten remains true into the present and will continue to be true in the future. This subtle difference between something like “I have eaten it” and “I was eating” is, albeit meticulously, still distinguishable in context with ～ている, so the big question is how do these two interrelated aspects affect the grammaticality of 知っていない.
久野 (1983) posits that when the perfect aspect is at work, 知っていない ought to be the only form possible, but for the perfect aspect to only work, other factors are at play.
69. 新聞を読むまでに太郎は事件の真相を｛知っていない 〇・知らない X｝。(+Perfect)
Until Taro reads the newspaper, he will not have known the truth of the case.
70. 太郎は今まで一度も自分の限界を｛知っていない 〇・知らない X｝。(+Perfect)
Taro has as of yet never once known his limit.
The main factor that prevents this ideal condition is the situation aspect (状態性) that usually defines 知っている in the negative. What’s more, many instances of 知っていない that follow the syntactic factor that rely on parallelism are not in the perfect aspect (Exs. 66~68). To combat this, 久野 (1983) states that 知っていない can only be used in abnormal scenarios, but that since they are ‘scenarios,’ it can incidentally show up when the perfect aspect is not present.
Expanding on this notion, 前田 (2010) posits that the difference between individual-level and stage-level predicates is at play. Individual-level predicates are statements that are true of individuals as a whole. For instance, in “Taro is Japanese,” the predicate is always true unless an outstanding circumstance is at play. A stage-level predicate is only true of an individual for a certain duration. For instance, “Taro is sick” does not inherently imply how long he has been sick or will be sick, but it is assumed that that state has not been so forever and that it won’t last forever.
When ～ている is used with instantaneous verbs to represent continued effect, the resultant predicate is a stage-level predicate because it may be ongoing but it may not be forever. In the negative, if the speaker focuses on how the event still has not happened, it still functions as a stage-level predicate, but if the speaker does not focus on the existence of the event and only mentions how it is not so, then it is an individual-level predicate.
71a. 太郎が事件の真相を何も知らない。(Individual-Level Predicate)
71b. 太郎が事件の真相を何も知っていない。(Stage-Level Predicate)
71a. Taro knows nothing about the truth of the case.
71b. Taro has yet to know anything about the truth of the case.
Thus, when the perfect aspect is not in play, the difference in predicate type will exemplify how 知らない and 知っていない are interpreted – (reflect on Ex. 68). What Ex. 71 shows us, also, is that if “has yet to know” sounds unnecessarily wordy to get the point across, the same holds true in Japanese, which is why 71b is normally not heard. As for Exs. 69-70, although 知らない is most certainly ungrammatical, 理解していない would be the most natural word choice.
Another factor 久野(1983) posits is how subjectivity comes into play. He points out that 知らない is from the perspective of the subject about the lack of knowledge being discussed, whereas 知っていない is an objective outward perspective regarding the lack of knowledge. Because of this, 知っていない is never used in first-person because everyone will always be biased towards themselves.
Although Japanese does carve out stage-level predicates combined with the perfect aspect as the best scenario to use 知っていない, it provides so many more efficient means of avoiding that scenario. Aside from the examples shown here which are continuously recycled when discussing its grammaticality, 知っていない remains quite elusive, with examples not exceeding its confines.
Other Dialects & Real Examples
When stepping outside the confines of Standard Japanese, we actually find that everything regarding 知っていない being valid is thrown out the window. In other dialects, ～ている is replaced by ～とる and/or ～よる. So long as their usage is properly vetted within said dialects, their negative forms ～とらん and ～よらん can, in fact, be used.
72. 知っとるかね？知っとらん。では、なぜだか分かるかね？
Did you know that? You haven’t realized it. Well, can you figure out why that is?
73. 知っとるようで知っとらん。
(He/she) seems like they know, but they don’t.
74. 知りよらんかった。
(I) didn’t know that.
In Standard Japanese writing, however, extant examples in isolation in modern texts is truly nonexistent. In Early Modern Japanese, examples could be found in literature, but those writers would have been heavily influenced by their local dialects. As such, the extant examples shown below follow the conditions mentioned earlier. In every case, 知っていない is not in true isolation.
75. 知っていないと恥ずかしい日本語
Japanese that would embarrassing not to know
76. 適切な接し方を知っていないと、状況をますますこじらせてしまうこともあります。
If you do not know how to properly attend (to them), you run the risk of aggravating the situation even more.
77. それは、大鹿と葉子だけしか知っていない。
Only Oshika and Yoko know about that.
From 『投手殺人事件』by 坂口安吾
参照:
➀久野暲(1983)『新日本語文法研究』
②前田ひとみ(2010)『「知っている」の否定形』
- 分かる is described as being ergative because its object takes the subject marker that would accompany transitive verbs. ↩︎