分かれる

What it means

分かれる means to be divided or split into parts, to branch off, or for opinions to diverge. It describes a change of state where a single thing becomes two or more distinct parts or directions, often used for roads, rivers, groups, or ideas.

Main meanings

• Physical or conceptual splitting into parts or branches (roads, rivers, ideas)
• Divergence of opinions or interpretations
• Parting ways or the separation of people or groups
• Distribution into two or more categories or camps

How to use it

Used in everyday speech and writing to describe splitting phenomena; commonly intransitive; subjects marked by が when describing a physical split (道が分かれる, 川が分かれる) or abstract divergence (意見が分かれる). For directional splits, に or へ can indicate resulting paths or destinations.