To Go Under
To Dive Underwater, To Go Underground, To Pass Through
intransitive verb, godan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means conceal, but as a verb, this word means to go under or to pass through. Most commonly, this word means to dive underwater or to go underground. Can you see why the kanji for conceal kind of makes sense in these cases? If you're underwater or underground, no one can see you!
潜る has two possible readings: もぐる and くぐる. The first is used when you mean to dive underwater or go underground. The second is used when you pass through or under something, sometimes with difficulty, such as crawling under a fence. We want you to focus on もぐる, so here's a mnemonic to help you:
Why are you trying to dive underwater again and again? It's to get mo' goo (もぐ) to sell on the black goo market. Who knew that sea goo was such a commodity?
モグラが土の下に潜って行くところを見ました。
I saw a mole going underground.
水の中にどのぐらいの間潜っていられますか。
How long can you stay underwater?
うちの犬は、フラフープをジャンプして潜る技を身につけました。
My dog learned a trick to jump through a hula hoop.