What's the difference between the kanji forms for わかる?


The verb わかる can be written using either 分かる, 判る, or 解る - what's the semantic
difference between these forms, if any?




The answer lies in the kanji. This data is from EDICT/Jim Breen's kanji
lookup:

  * 分: "...understand; know..."
  * 解: "unravel...explanation; understanding; untie; undo; solve; answer...explain..."
  * 判: "judgement; signature; stamp; seal"

分かる is clearly the most common - just to know or understand something:

> 私は日本語が分かります。 I know/understand Japanese.

解る implies understanding of a problem, not simple knowledge.

> やっとあの数学の問題が解りました。 At last (I) figured out that math problem.

Which implies to me that you solved the problem. If I read the same sentence
with 分かりました, I might not think twice -- but it could also mean that you didn't
spend any time solving it at all; you already knew how to solve it (and
therefore did so immediately).

判る is probably the least common use I've seen in the wild.

Because the word "judgement" is connected to it, ala 判断 (はんだん), so if a
judgement was made that something WAS something, that might be 判る. A cursory
Google search yielded [this Yahoo!
page](http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1152090766)
which indicated the same.

> 現場で指紋が見つかったからには、犯人が判るのも時間の問題です。  
>  Now that (we) found fingerprints at the scene, it's only a matter of time
> before (we) know/figure out who the criminal is.

DISCLAIMER: These sentences and translations are my own, and I'm no
translator, nor a native speaker!




The answer lies in the kanji. This data is from EDICT/Jim Breen's kanji
lookup:

  * 分: "...understand; know..."
  * 解: "unravel...explanation; understanding; untie; undo; solve; answer...explain..."
  * 判: "judgement; signature; stamp; seal"

分かる is clearly the most common - just to know or understand something:

> 私は日本語が分かります。 I know/understand Japanese.

解る implies understanding of a problem, not simple knowledge.

> やっとあの数学の問題が解りました。 At last (I) figured out that math problem.

Which implies to me that you solved the problem. If I read the same sentence
with 分かりました, I might not think twice -- but it could also mean that you didn't
spend any time solving it at all; you already knew how to solve it (and
therefore did so immediately).

判る is probably the least common use I've seen in the wild.

Because the word "judgement" is connected to it, ala 判断 (はんだん), so if a
judgement was made that something WAS something, that might be 判る. A cursory
Google search yielded [this Yahoo!
page](http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1152090766)
which indicated the same.

> 現場で指紋が見つかったからには、犯人が判るのも時間の問題です。  
>  Now that (we) found fingerprints at the scene, it's only a matter of time
> before (we) know/figure out who the criminal is.

DISCLAIMER: These sentences and translations are my own, and I'm no
translator, nor a native speaker!

