accumulate

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 積 has 16 strokes and conveys the accumulation of objects, experience, or feelings.
• Basic usage: 積む is read つむ, and 積もる is read つもる.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Stacking something and accumulation
  • 経験を積む means accumulating experience.
  • 積む is transitive, with を marking what is stacked or loaded.
  • 雪が二十センチも積もっていました means that as much as twenty centimeters of snow had accumulated.
  • 積もる is intransitive: what accumulates, such as snow, is the subject.