Meaning & Usage
The verb なる (naru) means "to become" or "to turn into." It is one of the most frequently used verbs in Japanese, appearing in everyday conversation, weather forecasts, career discussions, and formal writing. At N5, it is one of the first verbs worth getting comfortable with — it lets you talk about how people grow, how situations shift, and how things become different from what they were.
Think of なる as a verb that attaches to the end of an adjective or noun to signal a transition. It always describes a change. If something simply is a certain way right now, Japanese uses です or だ. When something changed to become that way — or will change into that state — you use なる.
The difference is concrete: 寒いです means "It is cold" — a snapshot of right now. But 寒くなりました means "It has become cold" — a change has occurred. Keeping this state-versus-change distinction in mind will prevent the most common mistakes learners make with this verb.
English covers these transitions with "become" or "get" — "She became a teacher," "It got cold," "He became famous." なる does the same work. The one thing to nail: the word before なる changes form based on its type. い-adjectives follow a different rule from な-adjectives and nouns. Get those three patterns right and you have the grammar point.
なる works in formal and informal speech alike. Polite: なります. Casual: なる. You'll hear both constantly — in family conversations, workplace small talk, and TV news alike.
One important nuance: なる typically refers to changes that happen naturally or without deliberate human effort. When someone actively causes something to change, Japanese uses する instead. If a room goes quiet on its own, you say 部屋が静かになった. If someone deliberately silences it, you say 部屋を静かにした. This なる vs. する distinction is covered in the Common Mistakes section below.
Structure & Formation
The most important rule for なる is that the word before it must take a specific form depending on its type. There are three patterns to master, and they are absolute — there are no exceptions among regular words.
| Word Type | Rule | Example (plain form) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| い-adjective | Drop い, add くなる | 大きい → 大きくなる | to become big |
| な-adjective | Drop な, add になる | 静かな → 静かになる | to become quiet |
| Noun | Noun + になる | 先生 → 先生になる | to become a teacher |
The same prefix rule (く for い-adjectives, に for な-adjectives and nouns) applies regardless of which conjugation of なる you use. Here are the main conjugations:
- Polite present / future: なります (narimasu)
- Plain past: なった (natta)
- Polite past: なりました (narimashita)
- Plain negative: ならない (naranai)
- Polite negative: なりません (narimasen)
- Wanting to become: なりたい (naritai) — combine with たい to express desire
- Continuing state: なっている (natte iru) — change has occurred and the new state continues
Drill these three patterns until they come out without thinking: 〜くなる, 〜になる, Noun＋になる. The rest follows.
Example Sentences
い-Adjectives Becoming
天気が暖かくなりました。
Tenki ga atatakaku narimashita.
The weather has become warm.
夜になると、外が暗くなります。
Yoru ni naru to, soto ga kuraku narimasu.
When it gets to nighttime, it becomes dark outside.
彼は背が高くなりました。
Kare wa se ga takaku narimashita.
He has grown taller.
日本語の勉強が楽しくなりました。
Nihongo no benkyou ga tanoshiku narimashita.
Studying Japanese has become fun.
な-Adjectives Becoming
彼女は有名になりました。
Kanojo wa yuumei ni narimashita.
She became famous.
部屋が静かになりました。
Heya ga shizuka ni narimashita.
The room has become quiet.
日本語が上手になりたいです。
Nihongo ga jouzu ni naritai desu.
I want to become good at Japanese.
町が便利になりました。
Machi ga benri ni narimashita.
The town has become convenient.
Nouns with になる
わたしは医者になりたいです。
Watashi wa isha ni naritai desu.
I want to become a doctor.
山田さんは先生になりました。
Yamada-san wa sensei ni narimashita.
Ms. Yamada became a teacher.
子供たちは中学生になりました。
Kodomo-tachi wa chuugakusei ni narimashita.
The children became middle school students.
Negative and Other Forms
彼はまだ元気になりません。
Kare wa mada genki ni narimasen.
He still does not get better.
来月から春になります。
Raigetsu kara haru ni narimasu.
It will become spring starting next month.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using になる directly with an い-adjective
❌ 寒いになりました。
✅ 寒くなりました。
い-adjectives cannot connect directly to になる. Drop the final い and add く first — that く is the bridge between the adjective and the verb. No exceptions among standard い-adjectives. Drill the transform: 大きい→大きく、小さい→小さく、高い→高く.
Mistake 2: Using くなる with a な-adjective
❌ 静かくなりました。
✅ 静かになりました。
な-adjectives follow the noun pattern and use に, not く. A quick test: does the word use な directly before a noun (e.g., 静かな部屋)? If yes, it is a な-adjective — use になる. Does it add い directly before a noun (e.g., 大きい部屋)? Then it is an い-adjective — use くなる. It is a reliable quick check.
Mistake 3: Wrong particle before a noun with なる
❌ わたしは医者がなりたい。
✅ わたしは医者になりたい。
When なる follows a noun, that noun must always be marked with the particle に. Using が or は to mark the target of change is a very common beginner slip. The particle に marks the destination state — what something is changing into. It is the same directional に you see in 学校に行く (go to school). Nouns always take に before なる.
Mistake 4: Confusing なる (natural change) with する (deliberate action)
❌ 部屋が静かにしました。(grammatically broken — mixing が with する)
✅ 部屋が静かになりました。(the room became quiet on its own)
Both なる and する follow に when used with な-adjectives and nouns, but they carry opposite meanings. 〜になる describes a natural or neutral change — the subject transforms without a named agent. 〜にする describes a deliberate action — someone actively makes something change. Notice the particle shift too: なる uses が to mark the subject that changes (部屋が静かになる), while する uses を to mark the object being changed (部屋を静かにする).
Mistake 5: Using なる to describe a current state rather than a change
❌ 今日は寒くなります。(if you simply mean "it is cold today")
✅ 今日は寒いです。(describing the current state)
なる always implies change or transition. To describe how something simply is right now — no transformation involved — use です or だ instead. Reserve なる for when something has changed, is changing, or will change into a condition. Mixing these up produces sentences that sound off to native speakers.
Cultural Notes
You will hear 〜になる constantly in daily Japanese. Weather forecasts use it ("%E6%98%8E%E6%97%A5明日は暖かくなります" — "Tomorrow it will get warm"), career conversations rely on it ("将来は先生になりたいです" — "In the future I want to become a teacher"), and it shows up in casual small talk about everyday changes.
One culturally significant expression is お世話になっております (osewa ni natte orimasu), literally meaning "I have been in a state of being taken care of by you." This formal greeting saturates Japanese business emails and phone calls. The construction goes beyond N5, but spotting the なっている (has become and remains in that state) structure inside it gives you a head start on future grammar.
Japanese culture values incremental self-improvement — the concept of 改善 (kaizen) captures this spirit. Using 〜になりたい or 〜が上手になりたい fits naturally into this mindset: you are not claiming mastery, just pointing toward where you want to go. That kind of statement reads as genuine and grounded to native speakers.
In casual speech you will frequently hear the contracted form なってる (natteru), short for なっている, which describes a state that has already changed and is still in effect. "有名になってる！" means "They've really become famous!" — the completed change and its ongoing result packed into one natural phrase.
Related Grammar Points
- じゃない — Negative Form for Nouns and Na-Adjectives (Grammar N5)
- Na-Adjective (な形容詞) — Complete Usage Guide (Grammar N5)
- たことがある — Have Done Before (Grammar N5)
- のが好き — Like Doing (Grammar N5)
- ながら — While Doing Two Things at Once (Grammar N5)
- てください — Please Do (Grammar N5)
JLPT Tips
On the JLPT N5 exam, なる appears in both the vocabulary and grammar sections. The most commonly tested aspect is the correct connector before なる — whether to use く (for い-adjectives) or に (for な-adjectives and nouns). These questions typically present a sentence with a blank and ask you to choose the correct form of the preceding word.
A reliable approach: identify the word type first. If it ends in い before a noun (e.g., 大きい犬), it is an い-adjective — drop that い and add く. If it uses な before a noun (e.g., 元気な人), or if it is a plain noun, add に. A focused drill with ten common adjectives will lock this in quickly.
The 〜になりたい pattern shows up often in reading passages — characters discussing their future goals almost always use it. Spot it on sight and comprehension questions move faster.
Watch tense signals in listening and reading sections. なりました (past polite) means the change is complete. なります (non-past polite) means it is ongoing or expected. This distinction can flip the meaning of a whole passage, so pay close attention — especially in listening sections where you cannot reread.
Priority expression chunks to memorize before the exam:
- 大きくなる — to grow bigger, to grow up
- 上手になる — to improve at something, to become skilled
- 元気になる — to get better, to recover health
- 有名になる — to become famous
- 先生になる — to become a teacher
Learn them as fixed chunks, not individual words. Instant recognition beats sounding them out one piece at a time when the clock is running.