According to the dictionary, 吹く is a transitive verb (e.g., a verb that needs an object).

However, the following sentence does not have an object. So what should I translate it?


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    明鏡国語辞典 lists 吹く as transitive and intransitive. – Chocolate Mar 16 '16 at 7:52

As you can see here, 吹く can be transitive and intransitive.

風が吹く（自動詞）　笛を吹く（他動詞）

So 風が強く吹いている。 can translate to "(lit.) The wind is blowing hard." i.e. "It's blowing hard."

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  • So when it is windy, "風が吹" is the appropriate phrase, akin to how when its raining, you say "雨が降る"? – user11589 Mar 16 '16 at 14:12
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    @user11589 You'd say 雨が降って(い)る or just 雨だ / 雨です when it's rainy, and when it's windy you'd say 風が強い(lit. The wind is strong.), 風がある(lit. There's wind.), 風が吹いて(い)る(The wind is blowing.), 強い風が吹いてる(Strong wind is blowing.), けっこう/かなり風が吹いてる/風がある, etc... – Chocolate Mar 17 '16 at 3:09

As choco writes, “吹く” can be used in both ways of transitive and intransitive as a verb, though I think it’s more often used in a transitive than in intransitive form. Here are some examples I picked up at random:


笛を吹く- play the flute

埃を吹く- blow the dust off

[法螺]{ほら}を吹く- talk big

毛を吹いて傷を求める - suffer great damage by sticking to a trivial matter

息を吹き返す - come back to life

ひと泡吹かせる - flummox someone / give sb a scare


そよ風が吹く - A light wind breezes

芽が吹く - The buds sprout.

泉水の水が吹く - The fountain water springs out.

嵐が吹き荒れる - The storm blows violently.

どこ吹く風 - I don't (he, she doesn't) care at all.

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