Translation guide
How to express the idea of something physically breaking into small pieces, or metaphorically falling apart, in Japanese.
Describing something solid (like a cookie, wall, or rock) breaking into crumbs or fragments.
General verb for something collapsing, crumbling, or losing its shape. Works for walls, cliffs, piles of things, etc.
The old wall started crumbling.
The building crumbled in the earthquake.
To break into pieces, shatter. Often used for hard objects like glass, ice, or cookies.
The cookie crumbled in my hand.
To become crumbly, tattered, or fall apart. Describes the resulting state.
This bread crumbles easily.
Adjective meaning brittle, fragile, crumbly. Describes a material's tendency to crumble.
This stone is crumbly and breaks apart easily.
Describing abstract things like plans, hopes, or organizations falling apart.
Also used metaphorically for plans, balance, or order breaking down.
Formal/literary term for complete collapse, like a roof tile falling apart. Used for organizations, governments, systems.
Collapse, breakdown. Stronger than 崩れる, often for total destruction of systems or structures.
The economy crumbled.
Emphasizing disintegration into very fine particles.
崩れる (kuzureru) is for things losing their shape and collapsing, like a wall or a pile. 砕ける (kudakeru) is for hard things breaking into sharp pieces, like glass. For food like cookies, both can work, but 砕ける is more about shattering, while 崩れる is about falling apart.
The cookie crumbled (fell apart).
The cookie broke into pieces.
His hopes crumbled away.
The organization crumbled from within.
The old castle walls are crumbling away.