fold · break

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 折 has 7 strokes and the on-reading せつ. 折る (おる) and 折れる (おれる) distinguish folding or breaking something from something breaking.
• Basic usage: 折る is transitive and describes folding or breaking an object; 折れる is intransitive and can describe a branch breaking or a person yielding.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• The object of an action and figurative yielding
  • 手紙を半分に折る means to fold a letter in half. 庭の枝が折れた means that a garden branch broke, describing a change in the branch itself.
  • ついに折れて協力した describes finally yielding to repeated requests and helping. 折れて here concerns a person's willingness, not a physical break.