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集まる vs. 集める

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Dariat
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Posts: 37
Joined: June 17th, 2009 9:13 pm

集まる vs. 集める

Postby Dariat » September 5th, 2014 5:02 am

Hi.

What's the difference between 集まる and 集める? The dictionary entries are:
集まる(あつまる) = to gather; to collect; to assemble
集める(あつめる) = to collect; to assemble; to gather
Those are the same words, just in different order. Does that mean that the meaning is the same? Is the different order supposed to tell me that there is some difference in nuance?

I've encountered the expression 「注目が集まる」, but I can only find the expression 「注目を集める」 in the dictionary. Are the following combinations all correct and equivalent?
注目を集まる
注目を集める
注目が集まる
注目が集める

Some advice would be much appreciated.

mmmason8967
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Joined: January 7th, 2012 12:24 pm

Re: 集まる vs. 集める

Postby mmmason8967 » September 5th, 2014 7:08 am

Dariat wrote:What's the difference between 集まる and 集める? The dictionary entries are:
集まる(あつまる) = to gather; to collect; to assemble
集める(あつめる) = to collect; to assemble; to gather
Those are the same words, just in different order. Does that mean that the meaning is the same? Is the different order supposed to tell me that there is some difference in nuance?

The difference is that 集める is transitive and 集まる is intransitive. Definitions that make the difference more obvious might be:-

集まる = to come together. Example: 公園で人が集まった (people gathered in the park).
集める = to bring together. Example: 公園で花を集めた (she gathered flowers in the park).

There are quite a few transitive/intransitive pairs like this: another example you may already know is はじまる, to begin, and はじめる, to begin something.

マイケル

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Dariat
Been Around a Bit
Posts: 37
Joined: June 17th, 2009 9:13 pm

Re: 集まる vs. 集める

Postby Dariat » September 5th, 2014 4:03 pm

I see. Thanks a lot.

community.japanese
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Posts: 2704
Joined: November 16th, 2012 8:54 am

Re: 集まる vs. 集める

Postby community.japanese » September 8th, 2014 4:46 am

Dariat san,

That’s great it’s clear.


マイケルさん、
どうもありがとうございます。
いつもながら素晴らしい回答ですね。 :D

Yuki  由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

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