起こす · godan verb (-su)
| Form | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 起こす | 起こさない |
| Polite | 起こします | 起こしません |
| Past polite | 起こしました | 起こしませんでした |
| Past | 起こした | 起こさなかった |
| Te-form | 起こして | 起こさないで |
| Desire | 起こしたい | 起こしたくない |
| Potential | 起こせる | 起こせない |
| Passive | 起こされる | 起こされない |
| Causative | 起こさせる | 起こさせない |
| Causative passive | 起こさせられる | 起こさせられない |
| Volitional | 起こそう | |
| Polite volitional | 起こしましょう | |
| Imperative | 起こせ | 起こすな |
| Conditional | 起こせば | 起こさなければ |
| Tara conditional | 起こしたら | 起こさなかったら |
godan verb (-su), transitive verb
Physical action of lifting something or someone up, or setting something upright.
I picked up the fallen chair.
子どもが転んだので、抱き起こした。
The child fell, so I picked them up and held them.
godan verb (-su), transitive verb
To cause someone to stop sleeping. The intransitive counterpart is 起きる.
毎朝7時に子どもを起こす。
I wake my child up at 7 every morning.
大きな音で起こされた。
I was woken up by a loud noise.
godan verb (-su), transitive verb
cause; bring about; trigger; generate
Broad abstract use: to cause an event, state, or phenomenon. Common with nouns like 問題, 混乱, 熱, 電気.
See also: 熾す (おこす)
彼の発言が大きな論争を起こした。
His remarks caused a big controversy.
摩擦で熱を起こす。
Friction generates heat.
godan verb (-su), transitive verb
start; launch; found; establish
To start or establish an organization, business, movement, or event. Often written 興す for this sense.
See also: 興す (おこす)
彼は新しい会社を起こした。
He founded a new company.
地域おこしのイベントを起こす。
We launch a community revitalization event.
godan verb (-su), transitive verb
Agricultural use: to plow or till the soil. Often written 熾す in this sense, but 起こす is also used.
春に田んぼを起こす。
We plow the rice field in spring.
godan verb (-su), transitive verb
fall ill with; come down with
Used with illness nouns like 病気, 風邪, 熱. Somewhat literary or formal.
過労で病気を起こした。
He fell ill from overwork.
godan verb (-su), transitive verb
transcribe; write down (spoken words)
To record spoken words in writing. Often used in contexts like court reporting or dictation.
議事録を起こす。
I transcribe the minutes of the meeting.
godan verb (-su), transitive verb
Used in card games to flip a card face up.
トランプを一枚起こす。
I turn over one playing card.
Every morning my mother wakes me up.
He caused an accident last night by drunk driving.
She founded her own company in her thirties.
I pushed myself too hard and ended up falling ill.
I was asked to transcribe the interview tape.
The next player turned the card face up.
起こす is the everyday, casual word for physically waking someone up, while 覚ます is slightly more formal and covers figurative senses like snapping someone out of a delusion or sobering them up.
起こす simply means to raise or set something upright, while 立て直す implies restoring it after it has fallen or gone wrong.
起こす is transitive, meaning to wake or raise someone/something else, while 起き上がる is intransitive and describes the subject itself getting up.
起こす (to cause or wake someone up) is easily confused with the base verb behind 怒らせる because both share the same おこる/おこす sound pattern, but 起こす has nothing to do with anger.
起こす is the transitive verb meaning to raise, wake, or cause something, while 起こし is its nominalized/suffix form used in compounds like 町起こし.
wake someone up by calling; awaken · call to mind; bring back memories; evoke; arouse
dig up; unearth; uncover
recall; remember; bring to mind
making a fire; fire-starting
rice paddy plowing; tilling a rice field
thunder before a snowstorm
stir up; rake; poke (a fire)
sit-up
clear and cultivate land; reclaim wasteland
help to one's feet; help up
wake someone up roughly; rouse someone out of bed · awaken someone by knocking at the door
muster; summon up; pluck up
lift in one's arms; help sit up