集まります（あつまります、atsumariまsu）
- to gather

The Japanese verb 集まります (あつまります) primarily means "to gather," "to assemble," "to collect," or "to meet." It implies a coming together of people, objects, or things at a specific place or time, often for a particular purpose. The subject of this verb is typically a group or a collective noun. The meaning focuses on the action of coming together. It is an intransitive verb, meaning it does not take a direct object. The action happens to the subject. The emphasis is on the group formation.

⚫︎パーティーに人が集まりました。 Translation: People gathered at the party. ⚫︎駅に電車が集まります。 Translation: Trains gather at the station. ⚫︎友達が公園に集まりました。 Translation: My friends gathered at the park.

⚫︎Use 集まります when you want to describe a group of people or things coming together in one place. ⚫︎It is often used when talking about events, meetings, or any situation where people or items are assembling. ⚫︎Consider the context carefully. If someone is causing the gathering (e.g., inviting people), you might use a different verb like 集める (to gather/collect, transitive verb). 集まります describes the event of people gathering themselves.

⚫︎The base form is 集まる (あつまる). ⚫︎The ます-form (polite form) is 集まります (あつまり[ます]). ⚫︎It is typically written in hiragana as あつまります. ⚫︎The kanji is 集まります, but in informal settings, it is commonly written only in hiragana. ⚫︎Okurigana (the suffix hiragana) is まります. The okurigana is standard and does not change.

⚫︎集まる (あつまる): The dictionary form of 集まります. ⚫︎集合する (しゅうごうする): To assemble, to gather (a more formal word). ⚫︎寄り合う (よりあう): To gather together, to meet. ⚫︎会う (あう): To meet (implies a meeting of people, but doesn't necessarily mean assembling)

⚫︎散る (ちる): To scatter, to disperse. ⚫︎解散する (かいさんする): To disband, to break up. ⚫︎別れる (わかれる): To separate, to part.

明日の会議に、全員集まります。 ・Translation: Everyone will gather for the meeting tomorrow. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 集まります to indicate that all the participants will be assembling for a meeting. It is a future tense prediction about what is going to happen.

学校に学生が集まりました。 ・Translation: Students gathered at the school. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the action of students coming together at school. The past tense 集まりました indicates that the gathering has already occurred.

⚫︎集まる is composed of the kanji 集 (しゅう), which means "to gather," "to collect," or "to assemble". ⚫︎The verb's origin is directly linked to the concept of bringing things or people together into a single place. The etymology reflects this core meaning of bringing things together.