する
Japanese
Etymology 1
Alternative spelling | 為る |
---|
From Old Japanese root verb す (su, “to do”).[1][2]
As with all verbs, during the Middle Japanese stage in the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal or sentence-ending form”) was gradually lost as the 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”) came to be used for both the attributive and terminal grammatical roles, realigning the conjugations.
Pronunciation
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary | |||
Stem forms | |||
---|---|---|---|
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形) |
する | する | [sùrú] |
Imperative (命令形) | しろ せよ |
しろ せよ |
[shìró] [séꜜyò] |
Key constructions | |||
Passive | される | される | [sàrérú] |
Causative | させる | させる | [sàsérú] |
Potential | できる | できる | [dèkíꜜrù] |
Volitional | しよう | しよー | [shìyóꜜò] |
Negative | しない | しない | [shìnáí] |
Negative perfective | しなかった | しなかった | [shìnáꜜkàttà] |
Formal | します | します | [shìmáꜜsù] |
Perfective | した | した | [shìtá] |
Conjunctive | して | して | [shìté] |
Hypothetical conditional | すれば | すれば | [sùréꜜbà] |
Verb
する (transitive and intransitive, suru conjugation, rōmaji suru)
- (intransitive)
- (of inanimate objects) to exist; to come up
- 稲光がする
- inabikari ga suru
- A lightning occured.
- においがする
- nioi ga suru
- There is a smell.
- 稲光がする
- (of a specified state; of a specified quality) to exist (in someone or something)
- がっしりした骨組み
- gasshiri shita honegumi
- a rigid structure
- がっしりした骨組み
- to be worth; to have the value of
- 五億円もする絵
- gooku en mo suru e
- a painting worth 500 million yen
- 五億円もする絵
- (of time) to pass; to elapse
- 一年もすれば忘れるだろう
- ichinen mo sureba wasureru darō
- It will be forgotten in one year.
- 一年もすれば忘れるだろう
- (of inanimate objects) to exist; to come up
- (transitive)
- to do; to perform an action
- 何をしていますか。
- Nani o shite imasu ka.
- What are you doing?
- 何をしていますか。
- to act as; to play a role of
- 私が司会をする
- watashi ga shikai o suru
- I am the anchorman.
- 私が司会をする
- to render; to make become
- (to be in a specified state; to have a specified quality) to be
- 怖い目つきをする
- kowai metsuki o suru
- to have an intimidating glare
- 怖い目つきをする
- to wear (accessories)
- ネクタイをする。
- Nekutai o suru.
- I wear a necktie.
- ネクタイをする。
- to decide; to choose or to make a judgment
- まあ、これでよしとしよう
- mā, kore de yoshi to shiyō
- Alright, let's go with that.
- 出場を取りやめにする
- shutsujō o toriyame ni suru
- I decided to quit the competition.
- まあ、これでよしとしよう
- to do; to perform an action
- (auxiliary)
- "Verbal noun + emphatic particle (e.g. は, も, こそ, さえ) + する ", emphasizing the verb.
- 雪は降りはしたが積もらなかった
- yuki wa furi wa shita ga tsumoranakatta
- It did snow, but the snow did not pile up.
- 雪は降りはしたが積もらなかった
- "Volitional form of verb + と + する ": to be about to; to incline to
- 日が沈もうとしている
- hi ga shizumō to shite iru
- The sun is sinking.
- 日が沈もうとしている
- " に / と + する ", to give a condition or standpoint, either real or hypothetical: if / since; assuming that / now that
- 習作とすれば上々の出来だ
- shūsaku to sureba jōjō no deki da
- It is of a considerably good quality as for a practice writing.
- 親としては心配するのは当然だ
- oya to shite wa shinpai suru no wa tōzen da
- It's inevitable to worry about that if you were the parent.
- どんなに急いだにしても間に合わなかっただろう
- donna ni isoida ni shite mo ma ni awanakatta darō
- It would never have been done in time no matter how hard we had worked.
- 習作とすれば上々の出来だ
- (humble) " 御/御 + verbal noun + する ", a humble form of the verb.
- "Verbal noun + emphatic particle (e.g. は, も, こそ, さえ) + する ", emphasizing the verb.
Usage notes
The verb する (“to do”) is seldom written in kanji (為る).
It is common to use する after certain nouns to indicate that the noun is being done; this is highly productive, meaning many nouns can be used as verbs in this way. Some examples are:
- 勉強 (benkyō, “studying”) → 勉強する (benkyō suru, “to do studying” → “to study”)
- 旅行 (ryokō, “journey”) → 旅行する (ryokō suru, “to do journey” → “to travel”)
See Category:Japanese suru verbs.
Conjugation
Stem forms | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Imperfective (未然形) | さ・し・せ* | sa shi se* | ||
Continuative (連用形) | し | shi | ||
Terminal (終止形) | する | suru | ||
Attributive (連体形) | する | suru | ||
Hypothetical (仮定形) | すれ | sure | ||
Imperative (命令形) | せよ¹ しろ² |
seyo¹ shiro² | ||
Key constructions | ||||
Passive | される | sareru | ||
Causative | させる さす |
saseru sasu | ||
Potential | できる | dekiru | ||
Volitional | しよう | shiyō | ||
Negative | しない | shinai | ||
Negative continuative | せず | sezu | ||
Formal | します | shimasu | ||
Perfective | した | shita | ||
Conjunctive | して | shite | ||
Hypothetical conditional | すれば | sureba | ||
* The sa- imperfective occurs in Kansai dialect and in certain set phrases, and forms the base of the passive and causative conjugations sareru, saseru, and sasu. The se- imperfective occurs in Classical Japanese and in other set phrases, and forms the base of the negative continuative conjugation sezu. The shi- imperfective is most common in Tokyo-standard everyday modern Japanese for forming the base of the negative conjugation shinai.
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative |
Stem forms | |||
---|---|---|---|
Irrealis (未然形) | せ | se | |
Continuative (連用形) | し | si | |
Terminal (終止形) | す | su | |
Attributive (連体形) | する | suru | |
Realis (已然形) | すれ | sure | |
Imperative (命令形) | せよ | seyo | |
Key constructions | |||
Negative | せず | sezu | |
Contrasting conjunction | すれど | suredo | |
Causal conjunction | すれば | sureba | |
Conditional conjunction | せば | seba | |
Past tense (firsthand knowledge) | しき | siki | |
Past tense (secondhand knowledge) | しけり | sikeri | |
Perfect tense (conscious action) | しつ | situ | |
Perfect tense (natural event) | しぬ | sinu | |
Perfect-continuative tense | せり したり | seri sitari |
Synonyms
See also
- す (su)
Etymology 2
Reading for various kanji spellings.
Verb
する (rōmaji suru)
Various verbs deriving from senses similar to “to slide” or “to rub”:
- 刷る, 摺る: to print something (from the way the paper would be placed on the printing block and rubbed)
- 掏る: to pick someone's pocket (possibly from the way a pickpocket must slide along unnoticed;[1] compare English slick)
- 擦る, 摩る, 磨る, 擂る: to slide, to rub, to chafe, to strike (as in a match, by rubbing); to lose or waste money
- 剃る: irregular reading for 剃る (soru, “to shave”)