I will introduce an interesting concept called consciousness & unconsciousness verb which you might not be aware yet. So what is it? Here is some explanation about it.
Consciousness verb: the action from the “verb” which can be controlled by the person who conducts it.
Unconsciousness verb: the action from the “verb” which cannot be controlled.
It is easy to understand what consciousness verb is, however, people are usually confused about the unconsciousness ones. Therefore, I will focus on introducing the latter. Let’s see some examples.
1. 机の上に財布があった。 (There is a wallet on the table.)
2. 雪が降っている。 (It’s snowing.)
As you cannot control the action itself, “ある” and “降る” are unconsciousness verb. Meanwhile, verbs about natural phenomenon, mental and physical activity are usually unconsciousness verbs.
3. 授業があまりにもつまらなくて、居眠りしちゃった。 (I fell asleep because the class is so boring.)
4. 寒いのか、子猫はずっと震えていた。 (The cat is trembling. Probably it’s cold.)
5. 理想な女性に出会った。 (I come across my dream girl.)
It might be confusing as some unconsciousness verbs look like consciousness verbs. You need to distinguish them by understanding the meaning of the sentence. Next time I will introduce something about the consciousness verb.
Enjoy the weekend.