1
sth ripens
ripen 作不及物动词用时，主语常为水果、谷物或花朵等。
Tomatoes usually ripen in the sun.
西红柿通常在阳光下成熟。
成熟；(谷物、水果等)长熟
ripening — present participle of ripen
先理解核心含义，再看它在真实句子里的用法。
成熟；(谷物、水果等)长熟
To grow ripe or mature, especially of grain, fruit, flowers, etc.
Tomatoes usually ripen in the sun.
西红柿通常在阳光下成熟。
Of grain, fruit, flowers, etc., to grow ripe; to become mature.
To approach or come to perfection.
To cause (something) to mature; to make ripe.
To mature; to fit or prepare; to bring to perfection.
ripen
Base
原形
ripens
3rd person
第三人称单数
ripening
-ing
现在分词
ripened
Past
过去式
ripened
Past participle
过去分词
Fruit ripens quickly in warm weather.
水果在温暖的天气里成熟得很快。
The sun ripened the tomatoes in a week.
阳光使西红柿在一周内成熟了。
The apples have ripened earlier than usual this year.
今年苹果比往年成熟得早。
规则动词，过去式和过去分词均为 ripened，现在分词为 ripening。
The tomatoes ripen slowly in the cool weather.
这些番茄在凉爽的天气里成熟得很慢。
These bananas will ripen in a couple of days if you keep them in a paper bag.
如果你把这些香蕉放在纸袋里，它们过两天就会熟。
The apples ripened earlier than usual this year.
今年苹果比往年成熟得早。
ripen 作不及物动词用时，主语常为水果、谷物或花朵等。
Tomatoes usually ripen in the sun.
西红柿通常在阳光下成熟。
ripen 作及物动词时表示“使成熟”或“催熟”，宾语常为农作物或水果。
The warm sun ripens the grapes.
温暖的阳光使葡萄成熟。
ripen into 常用于抽象事物，表示逐渐发展成更成熟、更完善的状态。
Their friendship ripened into a lasting partnership.
他们的友谊发展成为持久的伙伴关系。
Not this
The bananas are ripen.
Use this
The bananas are ripe.
ripen 是动词，表示“变熟”的动作；be 动词后应接形容词 ripe（成熟的），不能用动词原形 ripen。
Not this
The tomatoes ripened by the sun.
Use this
The tomatoes were ripened by the sun.
ripen 作不及物动词时不能直接带 by 短语表示被动；若表达被动意义，需用 be + 过去分词 ripened，即 were ripened。
Focus on the distinctions below. Other candidates are kept compact until a reliable usage note is available.
成熟过程
The ripening process continues after the fruit is picked.
水果采摘后，成熟过程仍在继续。
发展为；成长为
Their friendship gradually ripened into lasting love.
他们的友谊逐渐发展成为持久的爱情。
在阳光下成熟
These strawberries ripen in the sun and taste sweeter.
这些草莓在阳光下成熟，味道更甜。
自然成熟
Bananas are often left to ripen naturally at home.
香蕉通常放在家里自然成熟。
在藤上成熟
The grapes ripen on the vine by early autumn.
葡萄在初秋时于藤上成熟。
逐渐发展成为；最终变成
Their friendship ripened into a lasting love.
他们的友谊逐渐发展成为长久的爱情。
成熟就是一切。（出自莎士比亚《李尔王》，意为要坦然接受命运，随时做好准备。）
In King Lear, Edgar's line 'Ripeness is all' suggests that life ripens us and we must be ready for whatever comes.
在《李尔王》中，埃德加的一句“成熟就是一切”表明，生活会让我们逐渐成熟，而我们必须对将要发生的一切做好准备。
Use ripening naturally, then get feedback on meaning, tone, grammar, and phrasing.
Revisit a common error or keep this word in your review list.
把ripe（成熟的）加上-en，变成动词ripen：青苹果放几天，变红变熟，就是ripen。
语域：mixed 常见场景：fruit and crops、figurative or literary writing ripen 在日常谈论水果、谷物等成熟时属于中性表达；用于比喻意义（如时机、才能等逐渐成熟或完善）时多带书面或文学色彩。
No common word rhymes exactly with 'ripen' (/ˈraɪpən/). Words ending in /pən/ (happen, open, deepen, sharpen) share the final unstressed syllable sound with 'ripen' but not its stressed vowel /aɪ/, so they are not rhymes. Be careful: weapon also has final /pən/ but is spelled -pon; hyphen has the same stressed vowel /aɪ/ as 'ripen' but ends in /fən/, not /pən/.
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.