To jump straight to the point, I'm having an extremely hard time finding the difference in usage between a couple of words which are spelled the same, but which have different readings. When do you use which reading? I'm doing sentences in Anki, but the only sentences in which I know for a fact have the correct readings are the Core 2000/6000 sentences from smart.fm, since other sentences are either from public anki decks (most of which have readings generated by anki), or from manga/short stories/ja.wikipedia.org/other sources which doesn't give furagana for these quite basic words. So, if anyone could help me out with the distinctions between the following, I'd be quite grateful:

開く(あく) vs　開く(ひらく)
他(ほか) vs　他(た)

Also, if you have had (or still have) similar problems with other words, feel free to elaborate on those.

We did あく vs ひらく in this post and followups in the 'word/phrase' thread.

walruz Wrote:開く(あく) vs　開く(ひらく)
他(ほか) vs　他(た)

I believe the only time 他 is read as た outside of a compound is in the expression その他. その他 can also be read as そのほか and there doesn't seem to be any right or wrong in reading it one way or the other, but I think そのほか (all kana) might be the more common way to write it when the writer wants to say そのほか.

Words like these are the bane of my Japanese learning experience. It took me ages to figure out the difference between さける and よける for 避ける. But I can't be sure I've got it right even. I think さける is like "you should avoid him," and よける is like "dodge/avoid that ball flying toward your head."

New words I see in rikaichan that have multiple readings, I don't know how to deal with. And some versatile kanji like 音 give me trouble too. I worry that if I just pick a reading and it's wrong, I'll cement incorrect Japanese into my head.

JimmySeal Wrote:

walruz Wrote:開く(あく) vs　開く(ひらく)
他(ほか) vs　他(た)

I believe the only time 他 is read as た outside of a compound is in the expression その他. その他 can also be read as そのほか and there doesn't seem to be any right or wrong in reading it one way or the other, but I think そのほか (all kana) might be the more common way to write it when the writer wants to say そのほか.

There's also 他の人　（たのひと）、right? I feel like I've heard that one often, but I could be wrong...

and 他人 (たにん）

mezbup Wrote:and 他人 (たにん）

JimmySeal Wrote:I believe the only time 他 is read as た ->outside of a compound<-

There are plenty of compounds that contain 他 pronounced た, but they don't need any special mention, as there's no ambiguity there.

Basic words tend to have many different meanings and usages, and overlap/similarity in meaning between different words can cause ambiguity in reading.

I looked up ひらく (開く) in my J-J dictionary, only to get struck with 34 different meanings. The explanation of one meaning says, "Often it is difficult or requires furigana to know whether it is ひらく or あく if this meaning is used with kanji." The other 33 meanings may not confuse native speakers as long as there is enough context. But I'm not sure if it's a good idea to list a gazillion of different meanings and usages for the two basic words to learn when it's あく and when it's ひらく...

As for その他, the official rule used in governmental documents and such only allows た for the reading of 他. This applies to any occurrence of the kanji; 外 is the kanji with reading ほか. So there is no confusion in documents following this rule. But in your average writing, people do use 他 for ほか. If anything, I feel like 外 is less common in normal writing. I think this is another example of the kanji readings native speakers can get confused with.

It seems like yukamina got it right about (at least one pair of meanings of) さける and よける for 避ける. Probably she's referring to the difference like this:

If a boxer dodges a punch thrown at him, it's よける (避ける). But if he avoids getting hit by always keeping himself out of the opponent's reach as a tactic (i.e., avoiding infighting), it's さける (避ける). The former is referring to "dodge" as a direct physical action while the latter is more like "try not to get involved in a bad situation."

yukamina Wrote:Words like these are the bane of my Japanese learning experience. It took me ages to figure out the difference between さける and よける for 避ける. But I can't be sure I've got it right even. I think さける is like "you should avoid him," and よける is like "dodge/avoid that ball flying toward your head."

Rikaichan may be ambiguous about it, but I'm sure a dictionary isn't. See f.i. Breen's dic:
避ける(P); (1) (よける only) to avoid (physical contact with); (2) (さける only) to avoid (situation); (v1) (3) to ward off; to avert; (P).

KanjiDevourer Wrote:Rikaichan may be ambiguous about it, but I'm sure a dictionary isn't. See f.i. Breen's dic:
避ける(P); (1) (よける only) to avoid (physical contact with); (2) (さける only) to avoid (situation); (v1) (3) to ward off; to avert; (P).

It's not that simple. さける can definitely be used for (1) also. According to the Japanese person I just confirmed this with, in general さける can be used in any situation where よける can, while よける's range of meanings is more limited.
I'd recommend against using EDICT as anything more than a very approximate guide.

regarding the あく vs ひらく issue, isn't the case that the first one is intransitive and the second transitive? E.g.
ドアがあく
but
目をひらく

Put it another way, if the thing that opens is the subject (marked with が), read 開く as あく. If the thing that opens is the object (marked with を), read 開く as ひらく.

ひらく can be transitive or intransitive.