What does 縮める mean?
縮める is a Japanese verb meaning “to shorten, to reduce, to shrink” in English. It can also be translated as “to crumple (fabric), to make (one's body) smaller” depending on context. It is written as 縮める in kanji, ちぢめる in hiragana, and chijimeru in romaji. This word is part of JLPT N2 vocabulary.
Conjugation of 縮める
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Plain | 縮めるちぢめる | 縮めないちぢめない |
| Plain past | 縮めたちぢめた | 縮めなかったちぢめなかった |
| Polite | 縮めますちぢめます | 縮めませんちぢめません |
| Polite past | 縮めましたちぢめました | 縮めませんでしたちぢめませんでした |
Other forms
Te-form縮めてちぢめて
Potential縮められるちぢめられる
Passive縮められるちぢめられる
Volitional縮めようちぢめよう
Causative縮めさせるちぢめさせる
Conditional縮めればちぢめれば
,
Intransitive partner
縮める (someone does it)·縮む (it happens by itself)
縮める describes someone doing something to a thing. 縮む describes it happening by itself. Japanese keeps these apart where English often uses one verb for both.