1.
to increase, to grow
To become greater in amount or degree.
勢いが増す。
The momentum increases.
人気が増してきた。
Its popularity has been growing.
秋になると食欲が増す。
Appetite increases when autumn comes.
速度を増して走り始めた。
It picked up speed and started running.
年を取るにつれて、健康の大切さが増してくる。
As you get older, the importance of health grows.
増す is a godan verb meaning "to increase" or "to grow." Can be transitive or intransitive.
TRANSITIVITY:
- Can be both transitive and intransitive
- Compare: 増える (intransitive), 増やす (transitive) - more common in everyday speech
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 勢いを増す: to gain momentum
- 重要性を増す: to grow in importance
- 速度を増す: to increase speed
- 輝きを増す: to shine more brightly
REGISTER:
増す is more literary/formal than 増える. Common in written language and news.
RELATED:
- 減る: to decrease (opposite)
- ますます: more and more, increasingly