起(お)こす

おこす

verb (godan)

to wake (someone) up, to cause

1. to wake (someone) up

To rouse someone from sleep. The transitive counterpart to 起(お)きる (to wake up oneself).

I'm woken up by my mother every morning.

Passive: 起(お)こされる

Please wake me up at 6 in the morning.

Please be quiet so as not to wake the children.

The baby is sleeping, so be careful not to wake her.

Even though I'm woken up by an alarm clock every morning, I'm always late.

2. to raise, to help up

To help someone or something stand up from a lying or fallen position.

上体(じょうたい)を起(お)こす。

To raise one's upper body.

I picked up the fallen bicycle.

I helped the fallen child get up.

I slowly helped the patient sit up from bed.

The two of us lifted up the bookshelf that fell over in the earthquake.

3. to cause, to bring about

To cause something to happen, often used for events, problems, or incidents.

To cause a fire.

事故(じこ)を起(お)こしてしまった。

I caused an accident.

Please don't cause any problems.

If you don't take action, nothing will change.

I caused a major accident by drunk driving and had my license revoked.

TRANSITIVITY: 他動詞(たどうし) (transitive). Pair: 起(お)きる (intransitive, to wake up/get up). Pattern: Xを起(お)こす (wake X up / cause X).

ASPECT: ている indicates resulting state or ongoing action. 起(お)こしている = 'has woken (someone) up' or 'is in the process of waking.'

COMMON PATTERNS:

NUANCE: For 'wake up,' this verb focuses on the person doing the waking. 起(お)こす someone ≠ 起(お)きる (oneself). The pair is important:

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