JLPT N4 grammar · Chapter 1

～くする・～にする

Make someone or something become a certain way

You'll be able to describe deliberately changing a quality, condition, or setting.

Illustration of the scene described by My father turns down the television volume.

Read it first

父ちちはテレビの音おとを小ちいさくします。

chichi wa terebi no oto o chiisaku shimasu.

What do you think this sentence means?

My father turns down the television volume.

Why it means that

Deliberately change a condition

～くする and ～にする describe making something become a certain way. Someone actively changes the condition; the thing being changed is commonly marked with を.

Example

部屋へやをきれいにしました。

heya o kirei ni shimashita.

I made the room clean.

How it is built

Form and use ～くする・～にする

Use 小ちいさくする for making something small and 静しずかにする for making it quiet. Conjugate する for tense and politeness. Noun + にする can also mean choosing or designating something.

い-adjective without い+くする/な-adjective stem or Noun+にする

Examples

テレビの音おとを小ちいさくしてください。

terebi no oto o chiisaku shite kudasai.

Please turn down the TV volume.

図書館としょかんでは静しずかにしてください。

toshokan de wa shizuka ni shite kudasai.

Please be quiet in the library.

この部屋へやを教室きょうしつにします。

kono heya o kyoushitsu ni shimasu.

I will turn this room into a classroom.

Examples

暑あついですね。エアコンを少すこし強つよくしましょうか。

atsui desu ne. eakon o sukoshi tsuyoku shimashou ka.

It's hot, isn't it? Shall I turn the air conditioner up a little?

お客きゃくさんが来くるので、玄関げんかんをきれいにしました。

okyakusan ga kuru node, genkan o kirei ni shimashita.

Guests were coming, so I cleaned up the entrance.

時間じかんがないので、今日きょうの話はなしは短みじかくします。

jikan ga nai node, kyou no hanashi wa mijikaku shimasu.

We're short on time, so I'll keep today's talk short.

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