肥やす

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 肥やす is read こやす and means fattening an animal or enriching soil.
• Basic usage: It is used for adjusting livestock feed or improving soil by mixing in fallen leaves.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Meaning depends on the object
  • 牛を十分に肥やす means fattening cattle sufficiently, while 畑を肥やした means enriching a field. The translation changes according to whether the object is an animal or soil.
• Compared with 肥える
  • 肥える(こえる) describes the subject becoming fat or fertile, while 肥やす describes someone's action that brings about that change.