Two Japanese sentences can both translate as "the door is open," yet they say subtly different things. ドアが開いている is a plain observation — the door happens to be open. ドアが開けてある carries a hidden agent — the door has been opened by someone, on purpose, and left that way. The difference lives in a single choice: an intransitive verb + ている versus a transitive verb + てある. Master this pair and you gain a very Japanese power: to describe the exact same physical situation while either ignoring the person behind it or quietly crediting them.
ドアが開いている。
doa ga aite iru
The door is open. (just an observation)
ドアが開けてある。
doa ga akete aru
The door has been opened (deliberately, by someone).
First, the verb pairs: 自動詞 vs 他動詞
This contrast only exists because Japanese has transitivity pairs — two related verbs, one intransitive (自動詞, "happens by itself") and one transitive (他動詞, "someone does it to something"). English mostly reuses one word ("the door opens" / "I open the door"); Japanese uses two distinct verbs:
| Intransitive (自動詞) | Transitive (他動詞) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 開く (aku) | 開ける (akeru) | open |
| 閉まる (shimaru) | 閉める (shimeru) | close |
| つく (tsuku) | つける (tsukeru) | come on / turn on (light) |
| 消える (kieru) | 消す (kesu) | go out / turn off |
| 沸く (waku) | 沸かす (wakasu) | boil (water) |
| 並ぶ (narabu) | 並べる (naraberu) | line up |
The rule that ties it together is clean: the intransitive verb pairs with ている, and the transitive verb pairs with てある. 開く → 開いている; 開ける → 開けてある. Mix the wrong verb with the wrong auxiliary and the sentence breaks.
The angle: bare fact vs unseen agent
Both forms describe the present state of something. What differs is the angle the speaker takes on it.
ている with an intransitive verb reports the bare fact. It says nothing about how the state came about, whether anyone caused it, or why. The window is open — maybe the wind, maybe a person, maybe it was never shut. Not the point.
あれ、電気がついてる。誰か家にいるのかな。
are, denki ga tsuiteru. dareka ie ni iru no kana
Huh, the light's on. I wonder if someone's home. (just noticing)
てある with a transitive verb implies a person, on purpose, for a reason. Somebody turned it on and left it — and there's an implied so that…: so you can see, so it's ready, so you'll find it.
玄関の電気がつけてある。母が私のために消さずにおいてくれたんだ。
genkan no denki ga tsukete aru. haha ga watashi no tame ni kesazu ni oite kureta n da
The entryway light has been left on. My mom left it on for me.
So the difference between 電気がついている and 電気がつけてある is not really about the light — it's about whether you're pointing at a fact or hinting at an intention. Japanese lets you toggle agency on and off with this one contrast.
Minimal pairs, side by side
お湯が沸いている。
oyu ga waite iru
The water is boiling / has boiled. (intransitive — just the state)
お湯が沸かしてある。
oyu ga wakashite aru
The water has been boiled (ready for you, on purpose).
窓が閉まっている。
mado ga shimatte iru
The window is closed. (observation)
寒いから、窓は閉めてある。
samui kara, mado wa shimete aru
It's cold, so the windows have been (deliberately) shut.
料理がテーブルに並んでいる。
ryōri ga tēburu ni narande iru
The dishes are lined up on the table. (they're arranged — neutral)
お客さんのために、料理が並べてある。
okyakusan no tame ni, ryōri ga narabete aru
The dishes have been laid out for the guests (on purpose).
Notice how the てある versions naturally invite a purpose clause — 寒いから, お客さんのために — while the ている versions sit comfortably alone. That pull toward a reason is the fingerprint of the intentional resultative.
Don't forget the third option: transitive + ている
Here is the twist that catches intermediate learners. A transitive verb can also take ている — but then it usually means the action in progress, not a resultant state. So alongside the intransitive 開いている, the transitive 開ける yields two further, less-obvious readings:
| Form | Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 窓が開いている | 開く (intransitive) + ている | The window is open. (resultant state) |
| 窓が開けてある | 開ける (transitive) + てある | The window has been opened on purpose. (intentional result) |
| 窓を開けている | 開ける (transitive) + ている | Someone is opening the window. (action in progress) |
The particle is a giveaway: the progressive 窓を開けている keeps を (there's an active doer opening it right now), whereas both resultatives take が (the window is the subject being described). Confusing 開けている (is opening) with 開いている (is open) is one of the most common transitivity slips at this level.
今、係の人が窓を開けている。
ima, kakari no hito ga mado o akete iru
The attendant is opening the windows right now. (in progress)
Common mistakes
❌ ドアが開けている。
Incorrect for 'the door is open' — 開けている with が reads oddly; a simply-open door is the intransitive 開いている, or the intentional 開けてある.
✅ ドアが開いている。
doa ga aite iru
The door is open.
❌ ドアが開いてある。
Incorrect — 開く is intransitive and cannot take てある (which needs a transitive verb + an agent). Use 開いている or 開けてある.
✅ ドアが開けてある。
doa ga akete aru
The door has been opened on purpose.
❌ 窓ガラスが割ってある。
Wrong nuance for an accidentally broken window — 割ってある implies someone smashed it on purpose. For accidental breakage use the intransitive 割れている.
✅ 窓ガラスが割れている。
madogarasu ga warete iru
The window glass is broken.
❌ お湯が沸いてある。
Incorrect — 沸く is intransitive; pair it with ている. For the deliberately-prepared version use the transitive 沸かしてある.
✅ お湯が沸いている。
oyu ga waite iru
The water is boiling / has boiled.
Every one of these is a transitivity mismatch: ている wants the intransitive partner, てある wants the transitive partner. Learn the verb pairs, and the auxiliary follows automatically. The extra layer — choosing between them when both are grammatical (開いている vs 開けてある) — is a choice of angle: state the fact, or credit the unseen hand.
Key takeaways
- Intransitive + ている = a neutral "it is in state X"; transitive + てある = "someone put it in state X on purpose."
- The choice is forced by the verb pair (自動詞→ている, 他動詞→てある) — mismatching them is ungrammatical.
- When both are possible, ている states the bare fact while てある implies a deliberate agent and often a reason.
- Watch the third option: transitive + ている (窓を開けている) is usually the action in progress, marked by を, not a state.
- 〜てある is the natural way to describe a prepared scene while leaving the doer unnamed.
Now practice Japanese
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- 〜てある: Intentional Resultant StateN4 — How a transitive verb plus ある describes a state someone deliberately set up and left in place — 窓が開けてある 'the window has been opened on purpose' — and why the object takes が.
- 〜ている: Resultant State 'Has Done & Remains'N4 — The resultant-state 〜ている for change-of-state verbs — 結婚している 'is married,' 死んでいる 'is dead,' 窓が開いている 'is open' — where the action already finished and its result still holds now.
- 〜ておく vs 〜てある: Act vs Resulting StateN3 — Two sides of one event — 〜ておく narrates the act of preparing something in advance, while 〜てある describes the state that preparation leaves standing, with a telling を→が particle shift.
- 〜ている: The Two-Meaning Aspect MarkerN4 — 〜ている carries two meanings — the progressive 'is doing' and the resultant state 'has done and remains' — and the verb's own aktionsart, not the speaker, decides which one you get.