触ります（さわります、sawarimasu）
- to touch

The Japanese word 触ります (さわります, *sawarimasu*) means "to touch," "to feel," or "to handle." It implies physical contact with something. It can also figuratively mean to be related to, or to affect something. The core concept is about interaction through the sense of touch. The 触ります (sawarimasu) form is the polite, present/future tense form.

⚫︎ 犬を触ります。 Translation: I touch the dog. ⚫︎ このケーキを触らないでください。 Translation: Please don't touch this cake. ⚫︎ その問題には触りたくない。 Translation: I don't want to get into that problem. (Figurative meaning: to touch upon a topic)

⚫︎ You use 触ります (sawarimasu) when you are physically touching something, or when referring to handling something. ⚫︎ It is a polite verb, suitable for most situations. ⚫︎ It can be used to politely ask someone not to touch something. ⚫︎ The ～ないでください form 触らないでください (sawaranaide kudasai) is the negative imperative ("please don't touch"). ⚫︎ It can also be used in a figurative sense to indicate getting involved with a topic or subject.

⚫︎ 触ります (sawarimasu) is typically written in hiragana as さわります, or in kanji as 触ります. ⚫︎ The kanji 触 (fuku) represents "to touch" or "to feel." ⚫︎ The okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) is usually ります. ⚫︎ Other conjugations include: ⚫︎ 触る (sawaru) - dictionary form (plain form) ⚫︎ 触らない (sawaranai) - negative, plain form ⚫︎ 触りました (sawarimashita) - past tense, polite form ⚫︎ 触らないで (sawaranaide) - informal, negative imperative

⚫︎ 触れる (fureru) - to touch, to feel (often lighter touch or a brief contact) ⚫︎ 手で触る (te de sawaru) - to touch with one's hand (more specific) ⚫︎ いじる (ijiru) - to fiddle with, to tinker with (often with something small or delicate)

⚫︎ 離れる (hanareru) - to move away from, to separate ⚫︎ 避ける (sakeru) - to avoid

動物園でライオンに触ってはいけません。 ・Translation: You must not touch the lions at the zoo. ・Explanation: This sentence uses the negative imperative ("must not") to emphasize that touching the lions is prohibited. It showcases the use of 触って (sawatte) which is a conjugation of the verb 触ります.

その問題にあまり触らない方がいいと思う。 ・Translation: I think it's better not to get too involved in that problem. ・Explanation: This is an example of the figurative use of 触ります (sawarimasu), where it means to get involved or discuss a sensitive topic. The phrase 触らない方がいい (sawaranai hou ga ii) suggests "It's better not to touch (that topic)."

The kanji 触 (fuku) originally depicted a hand touching something. Over time, it developed its meaning of "to touch" or "to come into contact with". The word is a combination of the kanji 触 and the verb suffix ります (rimasu), creating the meaning "to touch" and implying a more polite or formal sense.