Why is いる used with 才能?


> 才能を隠すのにも卓越した才能がいる。

This is a translation of a quote from _Réflexions ou sentences et maximes
morales_. The original text is as follows:

> C'est une grande habilité que de savoir cacher son habileté.

I tried to translate this with the help of jisho.org.

  * 才能を隠すの - hiding talents
  * にも - also
  * 卓越した - excellent
  * 才能 - talent
  * いる - ???

So the whole sentence is something like "Being able to hide talents is also an
excellent talent".

However, I don't understand why いる is used here. I would've just put a だ there
because the sentence is stating that something _is_ something else. If using
an existence verb here is correct, why isn't ある used? I'm sure talents are
inanimate.




There are several different verbs with the same reading いる. This one is 要る in
kanji, and it means "to be necessary".

  * 居る【いる】: to be, to exist (used for animate objects)
  * 要る【いる】: to be required, to be necessary
  * 入る【いる】: to enter (usually read as はいる)
  * 煎る【いる】: to roast
  * 射る【いる】: to shoot (with an arrow)

入る is uncommon and literary, but 居る and 要る are both common and usually written
in hiragana. So you need to guess from the context which いる is used. It's easy
in this case because 才能 is not a living thing.

The whole sentence means "Talent is needed also to hide your talent."




There are several different verbs with the same reading いる. This one is 要る in
kanji, and it means "to be necessary".

  * 居る【いる】: to be, to exist (used for animate objects)
  * 要る【いる】: to be required, to be necessary
  * 入る【いる】: to enter (usually read as はいる)
  * 煎る【いる】: to roast
  * 射る【いる】: to shoot (with an arrow)

入る is uncommon and literary, but 居る and 要る are both common and usually written
in hiragana. So you need to guess from the context which いる is used. It's easy
in this case because 才能 is not a living thing.

The whole sentence means "Talent is needed also to hide your talent."

