知る vs 分かる – The difference between Knowing and Understanding
There are two words in Japanese that translate to know and understand. They are 知る and 分かる. These words deal with knowing and understanding but are used in different situations. Here though we will take a look at them and explain to them so you no longer need to be confused about how to distinguish them
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What does 知る and 分かる mean?
To make it easy, you can think of 知る to mean to know and 分かる to understand. However, in Japanese, these words don’t line up so nicely when you translate them. The actual usage in the real language will differ quite a bit when you translate them from English to Japanese.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/知る
知る basically means to know something. Knowing something means that you have knowledge, information, or experience about something else.
分かる
分かる means to understand something. This word though in Japanese has broader usage. It can mean to comprehend something, be able to distinguish something, and so on depending on the context.
What is the Difference between 知る and 分かる
First, the big difference between 知る and 分かる is the level of knowledge about something. The verb 知る expresses going from a state of not having any knowledge, to having that knowledge. On the other hand, 分かる means having more of a deeper knowledge or understanding about something. 知る generally is more black and white, meaning you know something 知っている or you don’t 知らない.
知る comes before 分かる
In order to understand something, you need to know it first. Look at the one-sentence below where you can have both 知る and 分かる in the same sentence:
ジョンの電話番号は知っているけど、今は分からない
I know John’s phone number but I can’t bring it to mind at the moment
I know Johns phone number but now I can’t tell you
So, in this situation, 知っている means that we have the knowledge of Johns phone number, possible written down or maybe we heard it but can’t remember at the moment.
Times when you can’t use 知る
分かる can be used to express levels of understanding where 知る can not.
日本語を勉強すればするほど分かるようになってくる
The more you study Japanese the more you will understand
✖日本語を勉強すればするほど知るようになってくる
The more you study Japanese the more you will know
This does not work for 知る because 知る represents going from no knowledge to having knowledge. Let’s look at another example. Pretend you learned someone’s name but can not remember it at the moment. If someone asked you that person’s name and you wanted to say you don’t remember it at the moment, what would you say?
Q: その人の名前は何ですか？
What is that person’s name?
A: 名前は知っているけど、今は思い出せない
I know their name but I can’t remember at the moment
Above you could not say 知らない because 知る suggests that you have the knowledge even if you can’t bring it to mind at the moment.
Actually, if we wanted to we could swap out 思い出せない for 分からない. The reason is that 分かる can express levels of understanding which may fluctuate temporarily.
名前は知っているけど、今は分からない
I know their name but I can’t bring it to mind at the moment
So know you understand 知る vs 分かる! If you want to learn more Japanese I reviewed a dictionary of grammar series which I personally recommend and use myself.
I also have several other posts on various topics on Japanese Universe if you are interested.
