The transitive/intransitive pairs page showed the tidy cases: an intransitive and a transitive verb related by a visible suffix — 죽다/죽이다, 열다/열리다. It's tempting to conclude that every such pair works this way, and that if you know one member you can build the other by adding a suffix. That conclusion will lead you to invent verbs that don't exist. Korean's transitive/intransitive pairs actually come in three kinds, and only one of them is a predictable suffix derivation. This page sorts them out, because knowing which kind you're facing determines whether you can derive the partner or simply have to know it as separate vocabulary.
The three kinds of pair
1. Derived pairs — the two members share a root and differ by a suffix (이/히/리/기/우 or -어지다). These are the predictable ones.
2. Suppletive (lexical) pairs — the intransitive and transitive senses are carried by two unrelated roots. There's no suffix relationship; you learn them as two independent words.
3. Labile verbs — a single verb covers both senses with no change of form, exactly like English move or stop.
| Kind | Intransitive | Transitive | Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| derived | 죽다 (die) | 죽이다 (kill) | suffix -이- |
| derived | 살다 (live) | 살리다 (save) | suffix -리- |
| derived | 열리다 (come open) | 열다 (open sth) | suffix -리- |
| suppletive | 없어지다 (disappear) | 없애다 (get rid of) | different stems |
| suppletive | 생기다 (come to be) | 만들다 (make) | different verbs |
| suppletive | 들어가다 (go in) | 넣다 (put in) | different verbs |
| suppletive | 나오다 (come out) | 꺼내다 (take out) | different verbs |
| labile | 움직이다 (move, intr.) | 움직이다 (move sth) | same verb, no change |
| labile | 그치다 (stop, intr.) | 그치다 (stop sth) | same verb, no change |
Suppletive pairs: two words, not one word plus a suffix
This is the class that catches learners, because the meanings are so close that you expect a morphological link — and there isn't one. "The card came out" and "I took the card out" feel like they should share a stem the way 열리다/열다 do. In Korean they don't: 나오다 and 꺼내다 are entirely different verbs. You cannot derive one from the other. You memorize the pair.
지갑에서 카드가 나왔어요.
jigabeseo kadeuga nawasseoyo
The card came out of the wallet. (intransitive — 나오다)
지갑에서 카드를 꺼냈어요.
jigabeseo kadeureul kkeonaesseoyo
I took the card out of the wallet. (transitive — 꺼내다, an unrelated verb)
The same holds for "in": things go in with 들어가다, but you put them in with 넣다 — no shared stem, no suffix bridge.
이 책이 가방에 안 들어가요.
i chaegi gabang-e an deureogayo
This book won't go in the bag. (intransitive — 들어가다)
가방에 책을 넣었어요.
gabang-e chaegeul neoeosseoyo
I put the book in the bag. (transitive — 넣다)
And "disappear / get rid of": 없어지다 (something disappears) versus 없애다 (someone eliminates it). Both grow from the root 없- ("not exist"), but they've diverged into two fixed verbs with different shapes — you can't turn one into the other on the fly.
이상하게 냄새가 없어졌어요.
isanghage naemsaega eopseojeosseoyo
Strangely, the smell disappeared. (intransitive — 없어지다)
향초로 냄새를 없앴어요.
hyangchoro naemsaereul eopsaesseoyo
I got rid of the smell with a scented candle. (transitive — 없애다)
좋은 아이디어가 생겼어요.
joeun aidieoga saenggyeosseoyo
A good idea came up. (intransitive — 생기다)
우리가 새 계획을 만들었어요.
uriga sae gyehoegeul mandeureosseoyo
We made a new plan. (transitive — the unrelated verb 만들다)
Labile verbs: one form, both jobs
A small set of Korean verbs behave like English move or stop — the same form serves both the intransitive and the transitive sense, with only the particles distinguishing them. 움직이다 is the flagship. Here there's nothing to derive: adding a suffix would be an error.
차가 갑자기 움직였어요.
chaga gapjagi umjigyeosseoyo
The car suddenly moved. (intransitive — subject moves)
다친 사람은 몸을 움직이지 마세요.
dachin sarameun momeul umjigiji maseyo
If you're injured, don't move your body. (transitive — move the object)
그치다 is another: 비가 그치다 ("the rain stops") and 울음을 그치다 ("stop crying") use the same verb, intransitive and transitive.
드디어 비가 그쳤어요.
deudieo biga geucheosseoyo
The rain finally stopped. (intransitive)
아이가 울음을 그쳤어요.
aiga ureumeul geucheosseoyo
The child stopped crying. (transitive)
Because these are exactly like English, they feel easy — the danger is the reverse of the suppletive problem: applying Korean's usual two-verb instinct and trying to build a derived partner (×움직여지다) that doesn't exist and isn't needed.
Why this matters for English speakers
Your instinct will be pulled in two wrong directions at once, so it helps to name both. First, do not assume every pair is a suffix derivation — 넣다 is not "들어가다 plus a suffix," it's a different word, and treating the whole system as productive derivation makes you coin nonexistent forms. Second, do not over-correct into always expecting two verbs — a handful of verbs (움직이다, 그치다) are single labile verbs, and forcing a derived partner onto them is just as wrong. The reliable approach: learn the high-frequency pairs as vocabulary units — 나오다/꺼내다, 들어가다/넣다, 생기다/만들다, 없어지다/없애다 — the way you learned "come out / take out" in English, as two words you happen to know together.
Common Mistakes
1. Using intransitive 생기다 with an object (or coining ×생기이다). The transitive of "come to be" is the separate verb 만들다.
❌ 제가 문제를 생겼어요.
Wrong — 생기다 is intransitive; 'I created a problem' uses 만들다.
✅ 제가 문제를 만들었어요.
jega munjereul mandeureosseoyo
I created a problem. (문제가 생겼어요 = a problem arose)
2. Using intransitive 들어가다 for "put in." Things go in with 들어가다; you put them in with 넣다.
❌ 가방에 짐을 들어갔어요.
Wrong — with an object 짐을 you need 넣다, not 들어가다.
✅ 가방에 짐을 넣었어요.
gabang-e jimeul neoeosseoyo
I put the luggage in the bag.
3. Using intransitive 없어지다 for "remove." Something disappears with 없어지다; you remove it with 없애다.
❌ 제가 냄새를 없어졌어요.
Wrong — 'I got rid of the smell' is 없앴어요.
✅ 제가 냄새를 없앴어요.
jega naemsaereul eopsaesseoyo
I got rid of the smell.
4. Using intransitive 나오다 for "take out." The transitive partner is the unrelated 꺼내다.
❌ 지갑에서 카드를 나왔어요.
Wrong — with an object 카드를 you need 꺼내다.
✅ 지갑에서 카드를 꺼냈어요.
jigabeseo kadeureul kkeonaesseoyo
I took the card out of the wallet.
5. Building a derived partner for a labile verb. 움직이다 already covers both senses; no ×움직여지다 is needed.
❌ 몸이 잘 안 움직여져요.
Over-marked — 움직이다 is already intransitive; drop the extra -어지다.
✅ 몸이 잘 안 움직여요.
momi jal an umjigyeoyo
My body won't move well.
Key Takeaways
- Transitive/intransitive pairs come in three kinds: derived (suffix: 죽다/죽이다), suppletive (two roots: 넣다/들어가다), and labile (one verb: 움직이다).
- Suppletive pairs can't be derived — 나오다/꺼내다, 들어가다/넣다, 생기다/만들다, 없어지다/없애다 are learned as vocabulary units.
- The classic trap is 생기다 (intransitive only) → 만들다 (the separate transitive) — there is no ×생기이다.
- Labile verbs (움직이다, 그치다) work like English move/stop; forcing a derived partner (×움직여지다) is an error.
- Don't over-generalize the suffix system in either direction — check whether a given pair is derived, suppletive, or labile before you build a form.
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Start learning Korean→Related Topics
- Transitive/Intransitive Verb Pairs (열다/열리다, 붙다/붙이다)TOPIK 3 — Korean rarely uses one verb for both 'X happens' and 'someone does X' — instead it has paired verbs, one intransitive and one transitive, built from the same 이/히/리/기/우 machinery as causatives and passives; this is the everyday, high-frequency face of the whole voice system.
- Unaccusative Verbs: Patient-Subjects Without a PassiveTOPIK 4 — A class of intransitive verbs — 되다, 생기다, 나다, 남다, 사라지다, 떨어지다 — whose single subject is a patient rather than an agent; because they already put the affected thing in subject position, there is nothing left to passivize, which is why 생겨지다 and 나지다 are errors and why so many Korean 'events' are stated without a passive at all.
- Which Verbs Take Which Suffix (and Why It Is Unpredictable)TOPIK 4 — The morphological causative is a closed, memorized set, not a productive rule: the stem-final consonant only hints at which of 이/히/리/기/우/구/추 a verb takes, many verbs have no suffix causative at all, and the safe default for any verb is the productive V-게 하다.
- The Forceful Transitivizer -뜨리다/-트리다TOPIK 4 — -뜨리다 (and its equally standard twin -트리다) turns a fall/break/collapse verb into a forceful, sudden, often accidental transitive: 떨어뜨리다 'drop', 넘어뜨리다 'knock over', 깨뜨리다 'shatter' — not neutral causation, but causation with impact.