籠

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 籠 is a noun read かご for a woven basket used to hold things.
• Basic usage: It covers putting flowers in a bamboo basket or placing a shopping bag in the front basket of a bicycle.
  • 摘んだ花を竹の籠に入れました。 describes putting picked flowers into a bamboo basket; 自転車の前の籠に買い物袋を載せます。 describes placing a shopping bag in the bicycle's front basket.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 籠に入れる
  • に marks the destination into which the flowers go, while を marks the flowers being put there.
• 籠に載せる
  • 載せる is a transitive verb for placing something on a support; in the second example, the bicycle basket is that location.
• 籠 and 袋
  • 袋(ふくろ) is a bag or sack made of flexible material, while 籠 is a basket whose woven material holds its shape.