So I am at level 5 and learned To Insert 入れる. I know 入る is to enter. I also know that 入 has a separate reading for both but how does れ make to insert different from to enter?
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If you see 入れる – then, depending on the context, it could mean “to insert”, in which case it would read いれる, or it could mean “to be able to enter” (potential form of 入る), in which case it would read はいれる
In Japanese, context always plays a huge role…
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I think the best way to think about this is to think about the spoken language:
はいる (hairu) is a word meaning “to enter, to go in” (it is “intransitive”, which is to say it doesn’t take an object: you are the one doing the entering)
いれる (ireru) is a different word, meaning “to insert, to put in” (it is “transitive”, which is to say it does take an object: you are inserting something).
It happens that we write both these words using the kanji 入, plus some kana for the part that changes with tense and person and so on: 入る and 入れる. In the base forms you can tell them apart because the one with the れ written out can’t be はいる. (As @trunklayer says this can get a bit trickier with inflections of verbs and sometimes it’s ambiguous, but you don’t need to worry about that for now.) But I think it’s helpful to look at it as some Japanese author started with a voice in their head that was saying one of two different words, and then they wrote it down, and it’s the writing system that’s making these two different verbs seem confusingly similar.
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Ok I get it.They are different words with similar topic that use the same Kanji in them. I think I was overthinking things because I notice in level 5 I am learning vocabulary that are related to vocabulary in earlier levels.
For example: 上げる To Lift Something → 上がる To Go Up, 生まれる To Be Born →生To Give Birth.
I was hoping to find some logic behind me to help me remember and understand.
Thanks.
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Japanese has quite a lot of these pairs of verbs where one is transitive and one is intransitive. They verbs in each pair are obviously closely related to each other, and there are definitely some patterns in them, but the patterns are often of the “mostly works this way” type rather than “hard rule that’s always true”.
For a good long thread about this you can try:
Personally my suggestion is that it’s probably helpful to have a read through the thread and get an overview of how the pairs tend to look, but that actively memorising transitive/intransitive pair patterns isn’t necessary. It works to learn individual verbs, and let exposure to the language do the rest.
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As it often can in English as well.
“bank”
What am I referring to?
The company/entity which is a bank?
A building which is a bank?
The side of a river?
Bank as to do my banking?
Bank as in to turn an aircraft?
Bank as in to cover the hot coals of my fire with embers and ash?
Bank as in to put my faith in something happening?
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