Wear (above the Waist)

[themonk]

着(き)る v. 履 (は) く
Dear all~
An interesting thing happened today concerning the usage of these two words. I would like ask the native speakers as well as those who took Genki I to put in their two cents.

This is in Genki 1, lesson 7.

I had thought that 着(き)る meant strictly "wear ABOVE the waist" while 履 (は) く
meant "below the waist." Obivously i was wrong.

At the session today, the homework/practice asks what does the shorter guy wear - - 着(き)る. A student answered in English first, That guy is wearing a sweat-shirt and jeans, as he was working out the sentence in Japanese.

i questioned the validity of his answer, because, i said, the question only calls for what the shorter guy was wearing for the top, hence, a sweat-shirt would suffice.

The "teacher" just smiled, saying that this question as written asks for what the guy overall was wearing, so the answer can include what he wears for the bottom.

Any help is appreciated.

Mind you, in the lesson's vocabulary section, 着(き)る is specified as "wear above the waist." We all know that textbooks make mistakes. Is this one of those rare occasion? Or, perhaps it can be either way, meaning either for "wear above the waist" or "overall what a person is wearing" ? Or, maybe the word can be loosely used as "overall wearing," if the speaker is sloppy?

[micahcowan]

It'd be more accurate to say 着る is for wearing things that aren't strictly limited to below the waist, or the top of the head. When it is limited to those things, then another word is usually preferable, I believe.

[Hyperworm]

And it does have an "overall/general" use, as you surmised. 服を着る is the wording for "wear/put on clothes".

[Shiroisan]

Wait, in such a case shouldn't you just say:

Tシャツをきていて、ジンズをはいています。

[themonk]

Shiroisan's interpretation is what i had thought before that session.

Micahcowan san and Hyperworm san's answers:
So this word has two meanings, then (1) wear (above the waist); and (2) wear (overall) ?

However, in Genki 1, it states only (1).

Thank you all.

It'd be more accurate to say 着る is for wearing things that aren't strictly limited to below the waist, or the top of the head. When it is limited to those things, then another word is usually preferable, I believe.

[Shiroisan]

It'd be more accurate to say 着る is for wearing things that aren't strictly limited to below the waist, or the top of the head. When it is limited to those things, then another word is usually preferable, I believe.

I thought that was for single articles of clothing that span over multiple parts of the body- that include the upper body. Jeans don't do that...

Ex) a DRESS would be considered upper clothing even though it's upper and lower. However pants are always just lower.

Am I wrong?

[shin1ro]

Hi,

これは面白い(おもしろい)話題(わだい)ですね

Thinking about this a while...

Pants/shoes are never used with 着る. So the verb 着る itself is not a general verb that means 'to put on' or 'to wear'.

About general clothes or a set of clothes (a suit, dress, kimono including haori, montsuki and hakama etc) 着る(きる) is used.
服(ふく)・着物(きもの)・水着(みずぎ)を着る to put on / 着ている to wear clothes, kimono (suit), swimming wear

But as for an individual wearing item, various verbs are used.
着る(きる) to put on / 着ている to wear (a dress, shirt, sweater, coat) - basically on an upper body

履く(はく) to put on / 履いている to wear (pants, a skirt, shoes, socks, stockings etc) - on feet, legs, lower body

被る(かぶる) to put on / 被っている to wear (a hat, cap, helmet, face mask/gas mask) - on a head, face

付ける(つける) to put on / 付けている to wear (a necktie, necklace, broach, badge, wristband, earrings, bras, a nose-and-mouth mask) - basically for small items

嵌める(はめる) to put on / はめている to wear (gloves, a finger ring, earrings) - maybe close 'to fit' ?

Special cases:
掛ける（かける) to put on / かけている to wear (eye glasses)
マスクする to put on a nose-and-mouth mask
締める(しめる) for 褌(ふんどし) a traditional men's underpants to put on.
...perhaps...付ける for 腰巻(こしまき) a traditional women's underpants to put on.

(I'm Japanese and sorry if my English awkward!)
-shin1ro (long time no see all)

[LordOfTheFlies]

(I'm Japanese and sorry if my English awkward!)
-shin1ro (long time no see all)

お久しぶりです！いえいえ、shin1roさんの書いた英語はとても自然です。説明も分かりやすくて完璧だと思います。

時間が空いたときにチャットに来ませんか？　久しぶりにお話したいです ＾＾

[shin1ro]

お久しぶりです！いえいえ、shin1roさんの書いた英語はとても自然です。説明も分かりやすくて完璧だと思います。

えへへ。ありがとう チャットは初心者だけど...そのうち機を見て遊びに行こうかな？