What does 縮む mean?
縮む is a Japanese verb meaning “to shrink, to be contracted” in English. It is written as 縮む in kanji, ちぢむ in hiragana, and chijimu in romaji. This word is part of JLPT N2 vocabulary.
Example sentence
セーターが洗濯で縮んだ。
My sweater shrank in the wash.
Conjugation of 縮む
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Plain | 縮むちぢむ | 縮まないちぢまない |
| Plain past | 縮んだちぢんだ | 縮まなかったちぢまなかった |
| Polite | 縮みますちぢみます | 縮みませんちぢみません |
| Polite past | 縮みましたちぢみました | 縮みませんでしたちぢみませんでした |
Other forms
Te-form縮んでちぢんで
Potential縮めるちぢめる
Passive縮まれるちぢまれる
Volitional縮もうちぢもう
Causative縮ませるちぢませる
Conditional縮めばちぢめば
,
Transitive partner
縮む (it happens by itself)·縮める (someone does it)
縮む describes something happening by itself. 縮める describes someone doing it to something. Japanese keeps these apart where English often uses one verb for both.