To Put On
To Wear, To Cover Oneself With
transitive verb, godan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. You learned this kanji as "incur," but it can also mean cover. So 被る means to put on, to wear, or to cover oneself with.
被る is used when you wear things that cover your head or face, like hats, helmets, and masks, or when cover yourself with something, like pulling a blanket over yourself.
Figuratively, 被る can mean taking on a burden or blame, like you're "covering" yourself with responsibility. It can also refer to overlapping events — think of it like one event "covering" another on a timeline.
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:
The hat you want to put on is way too heavy for you. It falls off your head and hits the ground with a loud KABOOM (かぶ). You try to wear the hat again and pull it down tight, but this time it pulls you to the ground with an even louder KABOOM!
この仕事では、安全のためにヘルメットを被る必要があります。
In this job, it's necessary to wear a helmet for safety.
この写真でニューヨーク・ヤンキースのキャップの帽子を被ってるのが私の弟です。
In this photo, the one wearing the New York Yankees cap is my brother.
うちの子は、他人の前ではいつも猫を被ります。
My child always wears a mask of innocence in front of non-family members.
ストッキングを被った男が銀行からお金を持って走って出ていくのを見ました。銀行に入るタイミングが被らなくて良かった！
I saw a man wearing pantyhose over his head running out of the bank with money. I'm glad our timing for entering the bank didn't coincide!