Vocabulary

彼(かれ)

he; boyfriend

日本語(に・ほん・ご)

Japanese (language)

上手(じょう・ず) na-adj

skillful

なる u-verb

to become

私(わたし)

me, myself, I

医者(い・しゃ)

doctor

有名(ゆう・めい) na-adj

famous

人(ひと)

person

ハンバーガー(ha n ba a ga a)

hamburger

サラダ(sa ra da)

salad

する exception

to do

他(ほか)

other

いい i-adj

good

物(もの)

object

たくさん

a lot (amount)

ある u-verb

to exist (inanimate)

やはり／やっぱり

as I thought

これ

this

As already explained, using なる with nouns and na-adjectives presents nothing new and acts pretty much the way you’d expect.

1. 彼の日本語が上手になった。
   His Japanese has become skillful.

2. 私は医者になった。
   I became a doctor.

3. 私は有名な人になる。
   I will become a famous person.

For adjectives, using the verb する with the に particle is just a review back to the lesson on adverbs. However, for nouns, when you use the verb する with the に particle, it means that you are going to do things toward something. This changes the meaning of する to mean, “to decide on [X]”. This is a common expression to use, for instance, when you are ordering items on a menu.

1. 私は、ハンバーガーとサラダにします。
   I’ll have the hamburger and salad. (lit: I’ll do toward hamburger and salad.)

2. 他にいいものがたくさんあるけど、やっぱりこれにする。
   There are a lot of other good things, but as I thought, I’ll go with this one.

If you think this expression is strange, think about the English expression, “I’ll go with the hamburger.” Exactly where are you going with the hamburger?

Vocabulary

去年(きょ・ねん)

last year

～から particle

from ～

背(せ)

height

高い(たか・い) i-adj

high; tall; expensive

なる u-verb

to become

運動(うん・どう)

exercise

する exception

to do

～から particle

～ so

強い(つよ・い) i-adj

strong

勉強(べん・きょう)

study

たくさん

a lot (amount)

頭(あたま)

head

いい i-adj

good

Because the に particle is a target particle that is used for nouns and by extension na-adjectives, we need to use something else to show that something is becoming an i-adjective. Since “becoming” expresses a change in state, it makes sense to describe this process using an adverb. In fact, you’ll notice that we were already using adverbs (of a sort) in the previous section by using に with na-adjectives.

1. 去年から背が高くなったね。
   Your height has gotten taller from last year, huh?

2. 運動しているから、強くなる。
   I will become stronger because I am exercising.

3. 勉強をたくさんしたから、頭がよくなった。
   Since I studied a lot, I became smarter. (lit: head became better)

Vocabulary

海外(かい・がい)

overseas

++{行く u-verb|い・く}+

to go

こと

event, matter

なる u-verb

to become

毎日(まい・にち)

everyday

肉(にく)

meat

食べる(た・べる) ru-verb

to eat

する exception

to do

日本(に・ほん)

Japan

来る(く・る) exception

to come

++寿司(すし)+

sushi

一年間(いち・ねん・かん)

span of 1 year

練習(れん・しゅう)

practice

ピアノ(pi a no)

piano

弾く(ひ・く) u-verb

to play (piano, guitar)

地下(ち・か)

underground

{入る|は u-verbい・る}

to enter

富士山(ふ・じ・さん)

Mt. Fuji

見える(み・える) ru-verb

to be visible

You may be wondering how to use なる and する with verbs since there’s no way to directly modify a verb with another verb. The simple solution is to add a generic noun such as a generic event: こと (事) or an appearance/manner: よう (様). These nouns don’t refer to anything specific and are used to describe something else. In this case, they allow us to describe verbs in the same manner as nouns. Here are some examples of how to use these generic nouns with する and なる.

1. 海外に行くことになった。
   It’s been decided that I will go abroad. (lit: It became the event of going abroad.)

2. 毎日、肉を食べるようになった。
   It became so that I eat meat everyday. (lit: It became the appearance of eating meat everyday.)

3. 海外に行くことにした。
   I decided I will go abroad. (lit: I did toward the event of going abroad.)

4. 毎日、肉を食べるようにする。
   I will try to eat meat everyday. (lit: I will do toward the manner of eating meat everyday.)

You can modify a verb with なる or する by first making it into a noun clause and then treating it just like a regular noun. Pretty clever, huh? I hope the literal translations give you a sense of why the example sentences mean what they do. For instance, in the fourth example, ～ようにする translates into “to make an effort toward…” but in Japanese, it’s really only a target towards acting in a certain manner.

Since potential verbs describe a state of feasibility rather than an action (remember, that’s why the を particle couldn’t be used), it is often used in conjunction with ～ようになる to describe a change in manner to a state of feasibility. Let’s take this opportunity to get some potential conjugation practice in.

1. 日本に来て、寿司が食べられるようになった。
   After coming to Japan, I became able to eat sushi.

2. 一年間練習したから、ピアノが弾けるようになった。
   Because I practiced for one year, I became able to play the piano.

3. 地下に入って、富士山が見えなくなった。
   After going underground, Fuji-san became not visible.