Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 8: 9/13

になる・くなるTo become (Adjective)

Structure

[な]Adjective + + なる
[い]Adjective[く]+ なる
Noun + + なる

Exceptions:
いいよくなる

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Expression

  • Word Type

    Verb

  • Register

    Standard

About ~になる・~くなる

になる (with な-Adjectives), or くなる (with い-Adjectives) is an expression used in Japanese to show that something is 'becoming (A)'. It can be used with any form of なる, to highlight that something will become (non-past), is becoming (continuous), or has become (past). It can even be used with negative forms, to show that something 'will not become (A)'.

In the example with the tea getting cold, we can see how ている sometimes highlights something that exists in an ongoing state, rather than changing any further. In other words, 'the tea has gotten cold, and remains to be cold'.

Additionally, the adjective いい 'good' is an exception to the regular conjugation rules for い-Adjectives, and will conjugate as よくなる, not いくなる.

Examples

--:--

    (むずか)しくなる

    To become difficult.

    (うれ)しくなる

    To become happy.

    (はや)くなる

    To become fast.

    よくなる

    To become better.

    綺麗(きれい)になる

    To become pretty/clean.

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      ~になる・~くなる – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (46 in total)

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        The difference between 冷たくなっているよ and 冷たくなったよ is the nuance and similar to how ‘has become’ and ‘became’ have a slight difference in nuance. 冷たくなっているよ has the nuance of ‘it has become cold’, and 冷たくなったよ has the nuance of ‘it became cold’. With 冷たくなっているよ the tea is still in the process of getting cold, while with 冷たくなったよ, just focuses on the fact that it got cold sometime in the past.

        To express ‘the tea is (in the state of) getting cold’, 冷たくなっている would be best to use!
        I hope this clears it up!

      • tzj

        tzj

      • IcyIceBear

        IcyIceBear

        Volitional form of しまう

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