Quote:
Originally Posted by starbright
Thanks a lot.
I'm just trying to get a set of sentences as a solid background to explain transitive and intransitive. I think if I can remember a set then it'll help me to remember the differences.
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You've got three patterns:
Transitiveいる
Transitiveある
Intransitiveいる
For "open-ness" you have two verbs: 開く (intransitive) and 開ける (transitive). I.e., 窓を開ける vs. 窓が開く.
Applying them:
○窓を開けている I am opening the window.
○窓
が開けてある The window has been opened.
○窓が開いている The window is open. The difference between this and the previous is that the previous has an implied actor, that the window's openness was caused by an unspoken actor.
×窓が開（あ）いてある this is improper grammar
Contrast 開（あ）いてある with 開（ひら）いてある. The former is improper grammar (intransitiveある is incorrect), but the latter (since 開（ひら）く is a transitive verb) is perfectly fine.
The point of the difference between Intransitiveいる and Transitiveある is that the former is just expressing the state of being, while the latter is putting some implied change in state into the sentence, or emphasizing that some unspoken actor caused the state of being.
In this example,
The window is open (merely a state of being) vs.
The window has been opened (the window is open + emphasis that some unspoken actor caused the state of being)
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In summary, you have transitive and intransitive verbs. ている can go with both, and the intransitiveている is what we can call having a "resultative aspect" (it talks about a result). Transitiveている has a "progressive aspect" as opposed to a resultative aspect (the focus is on the progression of the action by an actor).
てある only goes with the transitive, and it also has a resultative aspect (it makes the transitive focus on the result rather than the process).
窓が開けてある The window has been opened. OR, more explicitly: The window has been made to be open.
さいふが落としてある The wallet has been dropped. / The wallet has been made to drop.
木が倒してある The tree has fallen. / The tree has been made to fall.