覆う

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 覆う(おおう) is a transitive verb for covering the surface or top of something.
• Basic usage: It describes both covering a dish with cloth and clouds spreading over the sky.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Object and covering material
  • In 布で器を覆う, 器を marks the object covered and 布で marks the material used to cover it.
• Conjugation ending in う
  • Its forms include 覆って, 覆った, and 覆わない.
  • The reading is おおう, with a different vowel length from the similar-sounding 追う(おう).