Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 8: 8/13

にするTo decide on, To choose, To make something into, To view something as

Sometimes written as とする, which focuses on the result, rather than the process of 'making'

Structure

Noun + + する

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Expression

  • Word Type

    Verb

  • Register

    Standard

About にする

にする is a structure that combines the particle (a location/target), with the verb する. It means to 'make/decide' something in a certain way. The nuance with にする is that the speaker has direct control over the outcome. This is where the strong feeling of 'choice' comes from. The noun that comes before にする is the thing that is being decided.

In this example, although the common translation is 'to decide', it is actually much closer to the slang expression 'to do (A)' in English. This means that the literal translation is actually 'I'll do a beer', or 'I'll make it a beer'.

Sometimes the particle is used instead of に. Although this has the same meaning, it changes the nuance slightly. When is used, it takes away the feeling of being a direct decision. とする tends to be used in more formal situations, but this is only because is less 'definite', so results in the phrase sounding less pushy.

If you were going to compare these two to an English equivalent, it would be similar to the difference between the following sentences.

- I'll buy a burger. (A burger is the direct target of 'buy')

- I'll go with a burger. (You aren't 'going' anywhere, it just sounds softer)

This grammar point may be used for more abstract nouns, and does not specifically need to be 'items'.

Synonyms



Examples

--:--

    (なに)にする

    What will you decide on?

    今日(きょう)(ばん)ごはん(なに)にする

    What have you decided on for today's dinner?

    このかばんにします

    To decide on this bag.

    明日(あした)(あさ)ごはん(さかな)にします

    To decide on fish for breakfast tomorrow.

    このレストランにします

    To decide on this restaurant.

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      にする – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (13 in total)

      • mielke

        mielke

        hello @Jake!

        I got a review on this together with “shall” (ましょうか), but this item comes after にする, so I was a bit lost on that.
        is this an error? shouldn’t this only show up after I review ましょうか?

        thanks!

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        Hey @mielke
        We will likely replace the sentence, by the way, if you tap on the ましょうか it will show the definition

        Cheers!

      • Comebacktomorrow

        Comebacktomorrow

        I’m curious as to why にとする is softer. What role is the と taking on? Is it simply the quotation particle in a capacity outside of standard say/heard/think or is it an odd exception?

        My bit of reading makes me think it has to do with:

        … acting as if to make a motion to do [verb]. As we have already seen, this translates to “attempt to do [verb]”.
        From Tae Kim

        It feels like a framing device that doesn’t really have any direct English equivalent (that I can think of), which I guess would make sense since we don’t have anything like a quotation particle!

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