These two seem to overlap almost completely. The only thing I can really tell is that 触れる
seems that it can also be used in a metaphorical sense ("touch on" something; feel; perceive). I'm interested in how they are different in the sense of physically touching something. It seems like they can almost always be used interchangeably, but I hardly see 触る
as much as 触れる
. Yet earlier, I was reading my Japanese Bible, and within a few lines of each other, they are both used.
...女が近寄って来て、後ろからイエスの服の[房]{ふさ}に触れた。
(a few lines down the same page)
イエスが二人の目に触り...見えるようになった。
How do you choose which one to use when speaking of physical touch? Do certain circumstances or situations warrant one over the other?
Related question: Is the potential form of 触る
(= さわれる
) ever used? Because when reading ふれる
, I'll often reading it as さわれる
and then have to correct myself.