継ぐ

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 継ぐ is a godan transitive verb read つぐ, meaning to succeed to or inherit another person's work, role, or technique. Its connective form is 継いで, and its past form is 継いだ.
• Basic usage: It takes inherited work such as a family business as its object, or links a technique received from a mentor with new work created afterward.
  • 姉が家業を継ぐことになった。 says that the older sister is to take over the family business; 彼は師の技術を継いで、新しい作品を作った。 describes inheriting a master's technique and creating a new work.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 家業を継ぐことになった
  • ことになった indicates that taking over the family business was decided or came to be the arrangement; it is not merely a present habit.
• 技術を継いで
  • The connective form of 継ぐ is 継いで, with いで after the stem change, not 継ぎて.
• 継ぐ and 続ける
  • 続ける means continuing the same action or state, while 継ぐ expresses succession by receiving work or a technique from a predecessor.