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かかる

kakaru

Caught and can't get off: かかる

The picture Something hooked onto a thing and hanging there, unable to come off. かかる is it hanging there, hooked on its own; かける is you hanging it on.

Core verbs

Where the picture shows up in かかる

  1. time hangs on you

    駅まで歩いて二十分かかります。

    eki made aruite nijuppun kakarimasu

    It takes twenty minutes on foot to the station.

    Twenty minutes hooked to your ankles, dragging along as you walk to the station

  2. money hangs on you

    引っ越しに思ったよりお金がかかりました。

    hikkoshi ni omotta yori okane ga kakarimashita

    The move cost more than I expected.

    Money hooked to the move, slipping out of your wallet the whole way

  3. hanging on the wall

    壁に大きな絵がかかっています。

    kabe ni ōkina e ga kakatte imasu

    There's a big painting on the wall.

    A frame's wire caught on the nail in the wall, left hanging there

  4. a call comes hooked to you

    知らない番号から電話がかかってきました。

    shiranai bangō kara denwa ga kakatte kimashita

    I got a call from a number I didn't know.

    An unknown number hooking its line onto your phone and setting it ringing

    You かける a call; a call かかる to you. Learn the pair together.

  5. the illness hooks you

    去年、インフルエンザにかかりました。

    kyonen, infuruenza ni kakarimashita

    I caught the flu last year.

    A passing flu catching on your body and refusing to come off

All of it in one picture

かかる is the picture of something hooked onto you and hanging there, and you can't shake it off. Twenty minutes hooks onto the walk to the station; money hooks onto the move and keeps slipping out; the frame hangs from the nail in the wall; an unknown number hooks its line onto your phone; the flu catches on your body and won't come off. Only what gets hooked changes — time, money, a picture, a call, an illness. So かかる leaves the feeling that you didn't choose it: it got hooked onto you.

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