What's the difference and when it should be used between 操作、動作、作動、運転、作用


I work as an engineer, and inside the heap of documents that I have been going
through.

As an example, there's a lot of sentences that describing how the machine
operates, or operation behaviour.

In there, I found a kanji that when it is translated into English. It has a
similar meaning, which is kind of confusing.

So between this 操作、動作、作動、運転、作用

What's the difference and when I should use it.




For _to operate_ , the following are possible translations.

  * Someone(X) operates a machine(Y) XがYを操作する/動作させる/作動させる/運転する
  * A machine(Y) operates Yが動作する/作動する/{動作中,作動中,運転中}である

In terms of difference:

  * 操作する means more _to manipulate_ , so the subject is animate.
  * 動作する means _to move_. Talking about machines, it is close to _working_ or _being functional_.
  * 作動する means close to 動作する, but it sounds more _to start working_. For general usage, 作動 is mostly used for machines while 動作's subject can be animate or inanimate.
  * In contexts of operating a machine, 運転する should be mostly synonymous to 操作する. (It may depend on the type of machine.) In general, it means more _to drive (a vehicle)_ while 操作する sounds doing something with your fingers.
  * 作用する is _to affect_. I can't really imagine it is used as _to operate_. Xの動作がYに作用する would mean _the movement of some part (X) affects the movement of another part (Y)_




For _to operate_ , the following are possible translations.

  * Someone(X) operates a machine(Y) XがYを操作する/動作させる/作動させる/運転する
  * A machine(Y) operates Yが動作する/作動する/{動作中,作動中,運転中}である

In terms of difference:

  * 操作する means more _to manipulate_ , so the subject is animate.
  * 動作する means _to move_. Talking about machines, it is close to _working_ or _being functional_.
  * 作動する means close to 動作する, but it sounds more _to start working_. For general usage, 作動 is mostly used for machines while 動作's subject can be animate or inanimate.
  * In contexts of operating a machine, 運転する should be mostly synonymous to 操作する. (It may depend on the type of machine.) In general, it means more _to drive (a vehicle)_ while 操作する sounds doing something with your fingers.
  * 作用する is _to affect_. I can't really imagine it is used as _to operate_. Xの動作がYに作用する would mean _the movement of some part (X) affects the movement of another part (Y)_

