To Put On Shoes
To Put On Pants, To Put On A Skirt
transitive verb, godan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means footwear. And what do you do with footwear, usually? You put it on! That's why this word is to put on shoes or to put on pants or to put on a skirt.
Okay, pants and skirts aren't exactly footwear. But 履く is basically used for any garment you wear from the waist down, including socks, shoes, boots, pants, skirts, shorts, and even underpants.
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:
After you successfully manage to put on shoes, you exclaim, "Hah (は)! I knew I could do it!" Everyone doubted you could put on your shoes, but you did it — you really showed them. Hah! Now, the question is… will you be able to put on pants?
ズボンを履く時って、いつもジャンプしながら履くよね？
When you put on your pants, you always jump around, don't you?
まだパンツ履いてないの？早くしなさい！
You haven't put your underwear on yet? Hurry up!
くつ下を履かずにスニーカーを履かないで！スニーカーがくさくなるって何度言ったら分かるの？
Don't put sneakers on without socks! The sneakers will stink. How many times do I have to tell you this?