伸びます（のびます、nobimasu）
- to grow

The Japanese verb 伸びます (のびます) primarily means "to grow," "to stretch," "to extend," or "to lengthen." The specific nuance depends on the context. It can refer to physical growth, the elongation of something, or the progress of something. It is an intransitive verb, meaning it does not typically take a direct object. 伸びます can also imply an increase in something like the number of something or one's skill.

⚫︎ 背が 伸びました Translation: I/He/She/It grew taller. ⚫︎ ゴムが 伸びます Translation: The rubber stretches. ⚫︎ 会社の業績が 伸びています Translation: The company's performance is growing/increasing.

⚫︎ Use 伸びます when describing something physically lengthening or growing. ⚫︎ Use 伸びます when describing progress, improvement, or increase. ⚫︎ Pay attention to the context to understand the specific meaning. ⚫︎ In casual situations, you can use the informal form のびる.

⚫︎ Typically written in hiragana as のびます. ⚫︎ The kanji form is 伸びます. ⚫︎ Okurigana (the suffix hiragana) is consistent: のび+ ます

⚫︎ 育ちます (そだちます) - to grow (used for living things) ⚫︎ 長くなります (ながくなります) - to become longer ⚫︎ 増えます (ふえます) - to increase ⚫︎ 発展します (はってんします) - to develop, to expand

⚫︎ 縮みます (ちぢみます) - to shrink, to contract ⚫︎ 短くなります (みじかくなります) - to become shorter ⚫︎ 減ります (へります) - to decrease

子供の身長が一年で10センチも 伸びました ・Translation: The child's height grew by as much as 10 centimeters in a year. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 伸びました to describe the physical growth of a child's height.

最近、日本語の勉強がとても 伸びています。 ・Translation: Recently, my Japanese studies are improving a lot. ・Explanation: This sentence uses the て-form of 伸びます (伸びて) to describe the progress and improvement of language learning.

The verb 伸びます derives from the verb stem のび plus the polite verb suffix ます. The root のび relates to the concept of extending or stretching.