Grammar › Basics › なる
なる — to become
The verb of change: something gets a new state. The only trick is how the word in front connects — く for い-adjectives, に for everything else.
The short version
なる means "become / get / turn into". What comes before it just needs the right connector: an い-adjective swaps い for く (高い → 高くなる); a noun or な-adjective adds に (静か → 静かになる, 病気 → 病気になる).
い-adj 高い → 高くなる — get high / expensive
noun / な-adj 静か → 静かになる — become quiet
い-adjective → 〜くなる
Drop the final い and add くなる: the quality increases over time.
高くなるんですよ。
It gets more expensive, you know. (高い → 高くなる)
Noun / な-adjective → 〜になる
Add に before なる. Great for ages, times, weather and states.
53歳になりました。
I turned 53. (noun 53歳 + に + past なりました)
Watch out
なる is intransitive — it happens on its own. For making something change yourself, use する: 静かになる = "it gets quiet"; 静かにする = "make it quiet / be quiet".
🗣 に is often dropped for adjectives becoming adverbs, but not with なる. Keep the く and に — 「大きくなった」 (got big), 「好きになった」 (came to like). Dropping them changes the meaning.
Next: い・な adjectives → · から・ので — because → · All grammar
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