
になる (ninaru
) is a Japanese expression used to indicate something that becomes
, has become
or will become
.
This expression is made up of:
Particle に: Used to indicate a direction, which in this case refers to the "direction" in which it
becomes
なる: Godan verb which means
to become
In this way we can see how the expression になる literally means to go in the direction of becoming
, which translated simply becomes to become
.
In this post we are going to learn the use of になる through real examples.
The verb なる is always preceded by the particle に since "to become" is an intransitive verb, that is a verb that does not "acts" towards something (object with the particle を)
になる with na adjectives and nouns
To use になる with adjectives in na and nouns you don't need any conjugation: just add になる after the adjective o noun.
Adjectives in na and nouns behave grammatically the same way
In this case になる indicates that it became
what is indicated by the adjective or noun.
私は医者になった。
I became a doctor.
In this example we have a noun (医者 doctor
) followed by になる in its past tense (になった), which translates become a doctor
.
彼の日本語が上手になった。
His Japanese just got better.
In this second example we have instead the use of になる with an adjective in na. Since adjectives in na behave like nouns, also here just add になる after the adjective.
になる with adjectives in i
An adjective in Japanese i already indicates to be something
. For this reason, the particle に cannot follow an adjective in i in its plain form, but it requires it adverbial form (く):
We need to convert the adjective into an adverb. To do this, just replace the final い with く:
Once converted into adverb we just need to add the verb become
なる:
運動しているから、強くなる。
As I am training, I will get stronger.
An exception in this case is the adjective good
いい, which becomes よくなる (instead of いくなる)
になる with verbs
In Japanese it is not possible to change a verb directly through another verb. In our case, we want to be able to apply the verb become
なる to another verb.
The solution in this case is to add a generic noun between the two verbs:
こと (
koto
) or 事:what
よう (
you
) or 様:seem
/appear
/method
These nouns refer to nothing specific and are therefore used to describe something else. In this case they allow us to describe a verb as if it were a noun ("convert" a verb into a noun).
海外に行くことになった。
It has been decided that I will go abroad.
In this example we notice the addition of こと between the verb 行く (go
) and the verb なる (become
). In this way you can apply the expression になる:
行く means
to go
行くこと means
the fact of going
: using こと makes it possible to use 行く as a noun行くことになる means
to become the fact of going
In this way the literal translation of the sentence becomes becoming the fact of going abroad
(this sentence uses the expression ことになる).
毎日、肉を食べるようになった。
It seems that I started eating meat every day.
In this second example we see how よう follows the verb 食べる (eat
) to make it become the noun seem to eat
. Also in this case just add になる to complete the expression.