believe · trust

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 信 appears in words about trust and the transmission of information; its on-reading is しん.
• Basic usage: 信用(しんよう) means trust, while 通信(つうしん) means communication or information transmission.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Object of belief
  • 友人の言葉を信じる means to believe a friend's words. 信じる(しんじる) has the connecting form 信じて and negative form 信じない.
• Focus of two compounds
  • 信用を得る means to earn trust, while 無線で通信する means to communicate by radio. Interpret 信 through the complete compound.