分かる

• (to understand): 解る
• (to distinguish): 判る

From Old Japanese. Derived as the passive or intransitive conjugation of Old Japanese root verb 分く (waku, “to separate, to break into pieces; to be separable or distinguishable”).

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) わか​る [wàkáꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [2])[1][2]
  • IPA^(key): [ɰᵝa̠ka̠ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

分かる (intransitive, godan conjugation, hiragana わかる, rōmaji wakaru)

1. to understand

   はい、わかりました。

   Hai, wakarimashita.

   Yes. I understood.

2. to tell (one thing from another), to distinguish
3. to recognize, to realize

   わかった！

   Wakatta!

   I've got it! / I know!

4. to become known, to turn out

The Japanese verb wakaru is most often glossed as to understand. However, wakaru is intransitive, and it takes the thing that is understood, distinguished, or recognized as the subject (usually marked by particle が (ga)), and not the object (usually marked by particle を (o)). Strictly speaking, wakaru is thus closer to English to be understandable, as the verb wakaru describes the thing itself, unlike English to understand, which describes the action of the person doing the understanding, distinguishing, or recognizing.

Wakaru can take an agent (what would be the subject of the English verb to understand) marked by the particle に (ni).

• 複雑 (ふくざつ)でも、（私 (わたし)に）この事 (じ)情 (じょう)が分 (わ)かる。

  Fukuzatsu de mo, (watashi ni) kono jijō ga wakaru.

  Although it's complicated, this situation is understandable (to me).

Compare the difference in usage of transitive verb 知る (shiru, “to know”).