LEARN + JAPANESE / Note 122 JLPT N4

Making It So, Becoming So (する・なる)

Attach に (for a な-adjective or noun) or the く-form (for an い-adjective) to する or なる and you get “to make X” or “to become X.” する marks a deliberate change someone causes; なる marks a change that just happens on its own.

In Real Life
大きくなる just reports a change, the company grew, with no one named as the cause. 楽にする names a deliberate actor making the change happen, “I want robots to make housework easier,” the same distinction that shapes 自動詞・他動詞 pairs like 開く and 開ける.
In Real Life
Attached to a verb’s negative ない-form instead of an adjective, なくなる means “stopped doing” or “no longer does,” 書かなくなる, “I’ve come to not write anymore,” describing a habit that gradually faded rather than a single decision to quit.
In Real Life
してください built on する turns this into an instruction, “please make it X,” commonly used for house rules or requests, テレビの音を大きくしないでください, “please don’t turn the TV volume up.”

Vocabulary

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