Common word› JLPT N2 › Freq. Frequency Top 10,000 Conjugation 膨らむ · godan verb (-mu)
Form Positive Negative Dictionary 膨ふく らむ 膨ふく らまない Polite 膨ふく らみます 膨ふく らみません Past polite 膨ふく らみました 膨ふく らみませんでした Past 膨ふく らんだ 膨ふく らまなかった Te-form 膨ふく らんで 膨ふく らまないで Desire 膨ふく らみたい 膨ふく らみたくない Potential 膨ふく らめる 膨ふく らめない Passive 膨ふく らまれる 膨ふく らまれない Causative 膨ふく らませる 膨ふく らませない Causative passive 膨ふく らませられる also 膨ふく らまされる 膨ふく らませられない also 膨ふく らまされない Volitional 膨ふく らもう Polite volitional 膨ふく らみましょう Imperative 膨ふく らめ 膨ふく らむな Conditional 膨ふく らめば 膨ふく らまなければ Tara conditional 膨ふく らんだら 膨ふく らまなかったら
Pairs with 膨らます › Usage patterns 期き 待たい が 膨ふく らむ for one's hopes/expectations to grow
My hopes for the new job are growing.
予よ 算さん が 膨ふく らむ for a budget to balloon/expand
The construction costs ended up ballooning beyond what was planned.
生き 地じ が 膨ふく らむ for dough/bread to rise
The bread dough rises when baked in the oven.
蕾つぼみ が 膨ふく らむ for a flower bud to swell (before blooming)
The cherry blossom buds have started to swell.
Transitive / intransitive Related words 膨らむ is the plain godan word for something swelling or expanding, while 膨れる (also intransitive) tends to stress an outward bulge and is also used for a person pouting.
膨らむ focuses on expanding in volume like a balloon or bud, while 盛り上がる emphasizes a raised, heaped-up shape.
膨らむ suggests something expanding or swelling in size (like a budget or balloon), while かさむ is more specifically about costs or bulk becoming inconveniently large.
Opposites 膨らむ means to swell or expand, while しぼむ means to shrink, deflate, or wither, as with a balloon losing air or a flower fading.
膨らむ describes something growing larger in volume, whereas 縮む describes something contracting or shrinking in size.
凹む describes a surface caving inward or sinking in, while 膨らむ describes it swelling or bulging outward.
Don't confuse with 膨らむ describes a natural or expected increase in size (dough rising, hopes growing), while 膨れる often implies an irregular, unwanted swelling (a blister) or a sulky puffed-out face.
Written forms 膨ふく らむ Usage 53%
Standard kanji spelling for swelling, expanding, or bulging.
ふくらむ Usage 46%
脹ふく らむ Usage 1%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; 膨らむ is overwhelmingly preferred.
Etymology Derived from the verb 膨れる (ふくれる ) with a shift in conjugation pattern. The kanji 膨 is composed of 肉 (body part) and 彭 (a phonetic component suggesting swelling), fitting the meaning of expanding or inflating.
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