～合う

About

The verb 合あう, "to come together/to fit/to match", can be used in conjunction with stem form verbs to form compound verbs, and indicates that an action is done "reciprocally" or "with each other".

E.g. マイクと話はなし合あっても、何なにも解決かいけつしない。 "Even if I talk with Mike, nothing gets resolved."

E.g. 困こまった時ときは助たすけ合あいましょう。 "Let's help each other when we're in trouble."

合あう can't form compound verbs with actions that already involve two parties, such as 結婚けっこんする "to marry" or with verbs where only one person can perform the action, such as 走はしる "to run".

Summary

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  The verb 合あう means "to come together/to fit/to match"

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  The verb 合あう can be used to form compound verbs

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  ～合あう compounds indicate that an action is done "reciprocally" or "with each other"