To Be Saved Up
To Add Up, To Accumulate
intransitive verb, godan verb
Remember how 貯める means "to save up"? This is a lot like that, except the focus is on the thing that's being saved up. That's why it means to be saved up or to add up. To remember this is the intransitive version, just think about how it's easy for money to be saved up if you put it in the market (まる).
貯まる will often refer to money, like in 資金が貯まる (funds get saved up). But you'll also see it in phrases like マイルが貯まる (frequent flier miles add up).
One thing that tends to be saved up is tacos (た). This is because you always make too many tacos, so they have to be saved in the fridge for later. But then you forget about them and make more, so they tend to add up even more. It's a vicious taco cycle.
ポイントが貯まる
points are saved up
お金が貯まる
money gets saved up
水が貯まる
water is stored up
どんどん貯まる
to keep on piling up
少し貯まる
to accumulate a little
すぐ貯まる
to add up in no time
タンクに貯まる
to be stored up in the tank
簡単に貯まる
to get saved up easily
勝手に貯まる
to accumulate on its own
出張がたくさんありすぎて、マイルが本当すぐに貯まるよ！
I have so many business trips that my miles accumulate really fast!
私の息子はおこづかいが少しでも貯まると、コンビニにポケモンカードを買いに行くんです。
As soon as my son has a little pocket money saved up, he goes and buys Pokémon cards at the convenience store.
生きてるうちにお金を使わないと、どんどん銀行に貯まっていくだけだし、結局天国には持っていけないのよ。
If you don't spend your money while you're alive, it just keeps piling up in the bank — and in the end, you can't take it with you to heaven.