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masaegu (Offline)
永遠の愛
 
Posts: 2,573
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Central Tokyo
11-24-2010, 12:24 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxful View Post
Hi masaegu san, it only shows "さします - Put up" in the textbook that I am using. And the only example is "傘をさします”. Therefore, if I do a direct translation it will sounds like "Put up an umbrella", and that makes me wonder if it means to "Lift up something"?
OK. 傘をさす simply means "to open an umbrella (to use it)". さす does not mean "to lift up".

さす, despite the look of the word, would be a very difficult verb for Japanese-learners to use. In fact, it's so difficult that I rarely see them actively use it.

Some meanings of さす (in bold):

to pour water
to apply lipstick
to wear a sword**
for rays of light to shine
to be tinged with

NOTE: One cannot use it to mean "to wear clothes".
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