LEARN + JAPANESE / Note 113 JLPT N4
It Was Decided, I Decided (ことになる・ことにする)
ことになる attaches after a verb’s plain form and reports that something has been decided, usually by circumstances or by someone else, not by your own personal will. ことにする reports the opposite: a decision you made yourself, on purpose.
It's been decided that Lee will go volunteer in Africa.
It's been arranged that Kenta will study at graduate school.
In Real Life
ことになりました almost always implies the decision came from outside the speaker, a company transfer, a school assignment, a circumstance that worked out this way, rather than a personal choice freely made.
Since the deadline was close, I decided to write the report.
I make it a rule to sleep eight hours every day.
In Real Life
ことにしました reports a one-time decision, “I decided to.” ことにしています, built with ている, reports an ongoing personal rule or habit you’ve committed to, “I make it a policy to,” a subtle but useful shift in nuance.
It's scheduled that I call the customer at 10:00.
In Real Life
ことになっている, with ている on ことになる, describes a standing rule or schedule that’s already in place, often a workplace policy or an arrangement everyone’s expected to follow, rather than a single decision made once.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| volunteer | |
| elementary school | |
| bank | |
| graduate school | |
| customer, guest | |
| documents | |
| to send, see someone off | |
| plate, dish | |
| weekday | |
| deadline | |
| to get a job | |
| to gather | |
| rice ball | |
| fast food | |
| to walk | |
| job transfer | |
| rule, regulation | |
| to decide, determine | |
| habit | |
| one's own will |