沈む

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 沈む is read as しずむ and is an intransitive verb for physically sinking or for one’s mood becoming depressed.
• Basic usage: Describing a stone sinking to the lake bottom appears in 石が湖の底へ沈む, while describing one’s mood sinking after a failure appears in 気持ちが沈む.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Difference from 沈める
  • 沈む is intransitive for sinking, unlike the transitive verb for causing it.