なる for "To Become"

なる is equivalent to the English verb "to become."

The Basics
Beyond the Basics

The Basics

なる is a Japanese verb that means "to become." For example, if you dream of becoming a famous model, you can say:

モデルになる。
I'll become a model.

有名になる。
I'll become famous.

なる can also be translated as "to get" or "to be." So if you've actually become a model and you expect to have a busy schedule soon, you could say:

いそがしくなる。
It's going to get busy.

Piece of cake, right?

If you're wondering why the first two examples use に before なる but the last one uses く, don't worry. We'll talk about it in the Patterns of Use section soon. But first, let's check out the conjugation of なる so you know its different forms.

Conjugating なる

なる is a godan verb. Here are some basic conjugations:

	Plain	Polite
Present	なる	なります
Past	なった	なりました
Negative	ならない	なりません
Past Negative	ならなかった	なりませんでした

Patterns of Use

Noun or な-adjective + に + なる

You've learned that なる means "to become" or something similar. When what a person or thing has turned into is a noun or a な-adjective, you use the particle に to mark the end point of a change.

So, if an ice cream shop is going to be built on the corner, you say:

ここはアイスクリーム屋さんになる。
This place will become an ice cream shop.

In this example, アイスクリーム屋さん (ice cream shop) is a noun.

And if you think the shop will be popular, you say:

きっと人気になる。
They'll probably be popular.

Here, 人気 (popular) is a な-adjective.

Note that the particle に can sometimes be replaced with the particle と, as in:

このアイスクリーム屋さんは人気のお店となった。
This ice cream shop became a popular shop.

However, と indicates that the thing/state/event has reached its ultimate stage, and it sounds formal and literary. When casually marking the end point of a change, you can't go wrong with に.

い-adjective く + なる

When what a person or thing has turned into is an い-adjective, you first turn the adjective into the く form, and then add なる.

For example, say you felt especially happy to learn that a new ice cream shop will be opening near your house. In this case, you can say:

うれしくなった。
I felt happy.
(Literally: I became happy.)

This く ending of い-adjectives allows us to hook something onto the end of them. So to show how your mood has improved, うれしい has to be changed to うれしく before you can add なった (the past tense of なる) to the end.

〜なく + なる

ない is the equivalent of "not" in English, so if someone isn't popular, you use ない and say 人気じゃない. And if someone isn't happy, you say うれしくない. This ない is like an い-adjective and conjugates the same way. So, if you want to say that someone becomes unpopular or unhappy, you can say:

人気じゃなくなる
to become unpopular

うれしくなくなる
to become unhappy

Verb + よう + に + なる

So far, you've learned how なる is used with nouns and adjectives. Those are the most basic uses. That being said, なる can also be used with verbs to mean "to begin to do" something.

In this case, you need to add the word よう and the particle に between the verb and なる. (よう is usually written in kana but can also be written in kanji as 様.)

For example, if your child formerly disliked broccoli but has since developed a taste for it, you can attach 〜ようになる to the plain form or the potential form of the verb 食べる, as in:

ブロッコリーを食べるようになった。
He began to eat broccoli.

ブロッコリーを食べられるようになった。
He began to be able to eat broccoli.

Although you need the word よう in a positive sentence, you don't need it when saying that someone begins to not do something. In this case, you simply turn the verb into the negative form that ends with ない, then turn the ない into なく as it conjugates like an い-adjective, then add なる.

So if your child stopped eating broccoli again, you can say:

またブロッコリーを食べなくなった。
He stopped eating broccoli again.

I hope your child starts eating broccoli again soon!

Verb + そう + に + なる

If the verb is in its そう form, which is the equivalent of "looks like (someone or something) is going to do" something, you don't need よう and can directly attach 〜になる. With this pattern, you can express that you came to a point where you almost performed an action but didn't.

If you almost cried while listening to a tragic story, for example, you can say:

泣きそうになった。
I almost cried.

Similarly, if you were almost late for a meeting but arrived in time, you can say:

遅れそうになった。
I was almost late.

〜ことになる For "It Was Decided That/Turned Out That…"

You can also use なる to talk about plans that have been decided on, or about situations and circumstances that have turned out a certain way. Just combine 〜になる with こと, which converts non-nouns like verbs, adjectives, and clauses into noun form.

For example, if you were planning to travel to Japan but became ill and had to cancel your trip, you could say:

日本旅行、キャンセルすることになった。
We had to cancel the trip to Japan.

Similarly, if you didn't cancel but rebooked the flight for the following month, you could say:

日本旅行、来月行くことになった。
We decided to travel to Japan next month.

In both cases, 〜ことになる implies that the conclusion or outcome emerged naturally or unintentionally. To express that you intentionally canceled or rescheduled the trip, you should use the verb する instead of なる, as in 〜ことにする.

Also, note that both the verb and こと can be omitted sometimes in casual spoken language, like:

日本旅行、キャンセルになった。
We had to cancel the trip to Japan.

日本旅行、来月になった。
We decided to travel to Japan next month.

Let's take a look at another example. Say you lost your passport a day before your trip. To express this uh-oh situation, you may say:

やばいことになった。
I'm in trouble.
(Literally: It has become a bad situation.)

Here, it's not that someone has decided for the situation to be bad — it just turned out that way and you've confirmed it. In the same way, 〜ことになる can also be used to describe the current state of a situation that you have confirmed.

Beyond the Basics

〜にもなると〜 For Natural Consequences That Follow A Certain Change

You learned that 〜になる is used to describe some sort of a change in situation. Sometimes the particle も is inserted between に and なる, which is followed by the conditional と to talk about a consequence, as in 〜にもなると〜.

In this structure, what comes before 〜にもなると〜 usually refers to time, age, a role, or an event, and も emphasizes it. And you can communicate your realization that if someone or something reaches a given level or point, a certain consequence will follow naturally.

Let's say you observed your friend's child assisting her mother in the kitchen. You've known the little girl since she was a newborn, and you're shocked at how much she can do now that she's six. To describe your surprise, you can use 〜にもなると〜 and say:

六才にもなると、こんなことも出来るんだね。
I guess at six years old kids can do this kind of thing, huh?
(Literally: When a kid turns six years old, they can do this kind of thing, huh?)

に in this use can also be replaced with と, as in 〜ともなると, but this version sounds much more formal and literary.

となると〜 For "Based On That…"

You learned that 〜となる is a formal and literary version of 〜になる. This phrase followed by conditional と is used as a phrase at the beginning of a sentence, meaning "based on that" or "if that's the case" while referring to the statement directly before it.

Here is how it works. Say someone informed you that your boss was hospitalized yesterday because of a car accident. Then you may respond with:

となると、しばらく会社には来れませんね。
If that's the case, then he will probably not be able to come to the office for a while, right?

In this example, となると formally refers to the information you heard just beforehand, and lets you express the opinion or inference that you came to as a result.

You can also use となると when you're talking to yourself while reasoning. For example, in the same situation where your boss has been hospitalized, you may have a train of thought like this.

部長は、入院でしばらく来れないのか。となると、来週のプレゼンは恐らくオレがすることになるな。
So the director is in the hospital and won't be able to come for a while? If that's the case, I guess I'll probably have to do the presentation next week.

Again, となると has a formal tone. So it may not be very common for people to actually reason with this phrase, but it's common in fiction and other kinds of writing.

〜からなる For "To Be Composed Of…"

By now, you know that なる is used like "to become" in English. When used with the particle から, as in 〜からなる, it can mark the different elements that something is composed of.

This expression is generally used in formal, written Japanese, so if you want to explain what the Diet in Japan comprises, you can say:

日本の議会は衆議院と参議院（と）からなる。
The Diet in Japan is composed of the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors.

Note 〜からなる often takes the て form without changing the meaning, as in:

日本の議会は衆議院と参議院（と）からなっている。
The Diet in Japan is composed of the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors.

Here, からなる simply states what the Diet is composed of as a rule. It sounds succinct, while からなっている sounds slightly more descriptive as it gives focus to the current state of the Diet.