なる
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” – Buddha
なる (なります to all you ます verb enthusiasts out there) is a verb that means “become.” Sure, it’s just a single verb, but we’re going to spend some time focusing on it as a grammar point because it does a lot of interesting things. It also plays with particles in an interesting way.
The first thing you have to learn with なる is that it’s a directional verb. What particle do you use with directional verbs?
に
Basically, if something is becoming something else, it’s moving from one state to another. Thus, it uses に as the particle. So, when you think なる, you should think になる.
Before you move on to the next page, I want you to know two things.
- なる (just know the verb itself and its meaning)
- That it is a directional verb. It’s moving. That means it uses に as its particle.
Once you know those two things, you’ll be ready to start using なる in simple sentences (and then we’ll get more complicated and conversational from there).