飼う

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 飼う (かう) is a transitive verb meaning to keep or raise an animal by feeding and caring for it.
• Basic usage: It describes keeping a dog or learning proper care before raising a living creature.
  • 庭で小さな犬を飼っている。 — We keep a small dog in the yard.
  • 生き物を飼う前に世話の方法を調べた。 — Before raising an animal, we learned how to care for it.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Raising an animal
  • 飼う is used for keeping animals that require feeding and care; its range differs from 育てる when that verb means cultivating plants.