投げる

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. ボールを投げる。▶ —
   I throw the ball.
2. 質問を投げる。▶ —
   I pose a question.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Nageru (投げる) is the ichidan verb for "to throw / toss / give up" — kanji 投 (tou) = 扌 (hand) plus 殳 (lance) = "throw a weapon by hand." Multi-sense cluster: (1) physical throwing — booru wo nageru (throw the ball); (2) abstract "put forward" — shitsumon wo nageru (pose a question), shisen wo nageru (cast a glance); (3) metaphorical "give up" — saji wo nageru (literally throw the spoon, the doctors giving up on a patient image, broadly meaning resign or abandon), shiai wo nageru (throw the match). The 投 kanji family: toushu (pitcher in baseball, covered earlier in sakkaa baseball culture), touhyou (voting), toushi (investment), toukan (mail drop). Japanese baseball cultural code: nageru, toushu, picchaa (pitcher loanword), hoshu (catcher), dasha (batter). NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball, 1936 onward) runs 12 teams from April to October. Loanword pitching styles: andaa suroo (underhand), fooku booru (forkball, a Japan-invented breaking pitch), nakkuru (knuckle). The Japan-specific idiom saji wo nageru traces to Edo-era doctors measuring medicine with a spoon and tossing it when the patient was beyond cure — metaphor for resignation. Korean sutgarak nokda (put down the spoon, end the meal) and Chinese qi (give up) diverge. JLPT N5 nageru integrates with baseball and idiom clusters.

Quick check

1. Cultural origin of saji wo nageru?

   • Edo-era doctors measured medicine with a spoon and tossed it when the patient was incurable; idiom for giving up
   • Chef tossing a spoon
   • Post-meal rite
   • Kendo weapon metaphor