duty · entrust

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 任 relates to entrusting work or bearing responsibility. The verb 任せる is read まかせる.
• Basic usage: 修理を職人に任せる means to entrust repairs to an artisan: を marks the task, and に marks the person entrusted with it.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Delegation and neglect
  • 献立を母に任せる means leaving the choice of menu to one's mother.
  • 任せる is not inherently negative and does not by itself mean neglecting something.
• A duty and responsibility
  • 任務, read にんむ, is an assigned task or duty; 責任, read せきにん, is responsibility for a matter or its outcome.
  • 任務を終える and 責任を持つ differ in what is completed and what is borne.