伝わる

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 伝わる is a godan intransitive verb read つたわる, meaning that words, feelings, or information are conveyed or come across. Its connective form is 伝わって, and its past form is 伝わった.
• Basic usage: The content that comes across is the grammatical subject, and a means or setting such as brief words or a telephone may accompany it.
  • 短い言葉でも感謝の気持ちは伝わる。 says that gratitude can come across even in a few words; 電話越しに彼の緊張が伝わってきた。 says that his nervousness came through over the phone.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 言葉でも伝わる
  • でも shows that gratitude can still be conveyed despite the words being brief; it does not say that brevity prevents communication.
• 伝わってきた
  • てくる presents the nervousness as coming through from the other end of the call toward the perceiver.
• 伝わる and 伝える
  • 伝わる is intransitive and describes content or a feeling coming across, whereas 伝える is transitive and describes someone conveying it to another person.