する

See also: ずる

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
為る

From Old Japanese root verb す (su, “to do”).^[1]^[2] Cognate with Okinawan すん (sun).

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

(Tokyo) する [sùrú] (Heiban – [0])^[2]^[4]
(Mishima) する [súꜜrù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[3]
IPA^(key): [sɨɾɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「する」

Stem forms
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
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 • (suru) transitive or intransitive suru (stem し (shi), past した (shita))

(intransitive)
1. to exist; to come up (of inanimate objects)
  稲(いな)光(びかり)がする
  inabikari ga suru
  Lightning occurred.
  
  においがする
  nioi ga suru
  There is a smell.
2. to exist (in someone or something) (of a specified state; of a specified quality)
  がっしりした骨(ほね)組(ぐ)み
  gasshiri shita honegumi
  a rigid structure
3. to be worth; to have the value of
  五(ご)億(おく)円(えん)もする絵(え)
  gooku en mo suru e
  a painting worth 500 million yen
4. to pass; to elapse (of time)
  一(いち)年(ねん)もすれば忘(わす)れるだろう
  ichinen mo sureba wasureru darō
  It will be forgotten after one year.
(transitive)
1. to do; to perform an action
  何(なに)をしていますか。
  Nani o shite imasu ka.
  What are you doing?
2. to act as; to play a role of
  私(わたし)が司(し)会(かい)をする
  watashi ga shikai o suru
  I am the anchorman.
3. to render; to make become (used as the suppletive causative form of なる (naru))
  Usually "A を B に / と + する ", to make A become B.
  
  息(むす)子(こ)を先(せん)生(せい)にする
  musuko o sensei ni suru
  He is training his son to become a teacher.
  
  一(ひと)人(り)にしないで
  hitori ni shinaide
  please don't leave me alone
  
  部(へ)屋(や)を綺(き)麗(れい)にする
  heya o kirei ni suru
  to clean up one's room
4. (to be in a specified state; to have a specified quality) to be
  怖(こわ)い目(め)つきをする
  kowai metsuki o suru
  to have an intimidating glare
  
  いい子(こ)にしなさいね
  ī ko ni shinasai ne
  Be a good boy.
5. to wear (accessories)
  ネクタイをする。
  Nekutai o suru.
  I wear a necktie.
6. 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(しゅつ)場(じょう)を取(と)りやめにする
  shutsujō o toriyame ni suru
  I decided to quit the competition.
7. (informal) to do it; to have sex
  Synonyms: see Thesaurus:性交する
(auxiliary)
1. "Adverb + する", forming predicates or attributives from adverbs.
  いらいら (iraira, “(adverb) irritated”) - いらいらする気(き)持(も)ち (iraira suru kimochi, “feeling of irritation”)
2. "Verbal noun + emphatic particle (e.g. は, も, こそ, さえ) + する ", emphasizing the verb.
  雪(ゆき)は降(ふ)りはしたが積(つ)もらなかった
  yuki wa furi wa shita ga tsumoranakatta
  It did snow, but the snow did not pile up.
3. "Volitional form of verb + と + する": to be about to; to incline to
  日(ひ)が沈(しず)もうとしている
  hi ga shizumō to shite iru
  The sun is about to set.
4. "に / と + する", to give a condition or standpoint, either real or hypothetical: if / since; assuming that / now that
  習(しゅう)作(さく)とすれば上(じょう)々(じょう)の出(で)来(き)だ
  shūsaku to sureba jōjō no deki da
  It is of a considerably good quality as for a practice writing.
  
  親(おや)としては心(しん)配(ぱい)するのは当(とう)然(ぜん)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(いそ)いだにしても間(ま)に合(あ)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.
5. (humble) "御(お)/御(ご) + verbal noun + する", a humble form of the verb.
  Antonym: なる
  
  Synonym: 致す
  
  届(とど)ける (todokeru, “to deliver”) — お届(とど)けします (o-todoke shimasu, “to deliver”, humble)
  
  伴(とも) (tomo, “company”) — お伴(とも)します (o-tomo shimasu, “to accompany”, humble)
  
  案(あん)内(ない)する (annai suru, “to guide”) — ご案(あん)内(ない)します (go-annai shimasu, “to guide”, humble)

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”)
- アップロード (appurōdo, “upload”) → アップロードする (appurōdo suru, “to do uploading” → “to upload”)

Most verbal nouns are Sino-Japanese words (usually two-kanji), but some are of native (和語 (wago)) or foreign origin (外来語 (gairaigo)). Most verbal nouns can be separated from the ending する (suru) by inserting を (o, object particle); in addition to 日本語を勉強する (Nihongo o benkyō suru, “to study Japanese”) you can say 日本語の勉強をする (Nihongo no benkyō o suru, “to do the studying of Japanese”). (You cannot say *日本語を勉強をする (Nihongo o benkyō o suru, literally “to [do studying]_verb Japanese”), despite Korean 일본어 를 공부 를 하다 (ilboneo-reul gongbu-reul hada). Modern Japanese cannot have multiple direct objects.) However, some verbal nouns are bound to the ending する (suru) and treated as single words in dictionaries:

Sino-Japanese (usually one-kanji): 関する (kansuru, “to concern”), from 関 (kan, “relation, connection”)
Native: 私する (watakushisuru, “to appropriate, to privatize”), from 私 (watakushi, “private matter”)

Such verbs can be thought of as morphologically instead of syntactically derived. Sometimes further shape changes may take place:

For some verbs the する (suru) optionally changes to す (su), with type 1 (godan) conjugation: 訳する (yakusuru, “to translate”) usually appears in the shape 訳す (yakusu) and favors the forms 訳さない (yakusanai) over 訳しない (yakushinai), 訳そう (yakusō) over 訳しよう (yakushiyō), etc.
For some verbs the する (suru) is voiced as ずる (zuru), then optionally changes to じる (jiru) with type 2 (ichidan) conjugation: 感ずる (kanzuru) → 感じる (kanjiru, “to feel”), 信ずる (shinzuru) → 信じる (shinjiru, “to believe”). When they are not changed to type 2 conjugation, they make passive and causative forms ending in -zerareru/-zesaseru: the passive form of “to believe” is 信ぜられる (shinzerareru) if not 信じられる (shinjirareru), but never *信ざれる (shinzareru). Most of these are derived from single Sino-Japanese kanji ending in a nasal (-m, -n, -ng) in Middle Chinese, but not all kanji ending in a nasal in Middle Chinese voice the following する (suru) to ずる (zuru); compare 感ずる (kanzuru) → 感じる (kanjiru, “to feel”) with 関する (kansuru, “to concern”). Furthermore, the voicing also occurs for some kanji whose Japanese reading ends in a long sound erroneously traced back to Middle Chinese -ng: 報ずる (hōzuru) → 報じる (hōjiru, “to report”), 投ずる (tōzuru) → 投じる (tōjiru, “to throw”), as well as some native stems: 重んずる (omonzuru) → 重んじる (omonjiru, “to hold in high esteem”), 甘んずる (amanzuru) → 甘んじる (amanjiru, “to content oneself with”), etc.

The potential form of する (suru) is the suppletive verb できる (dekiru). Verbal nouns that are not bound to the する (suru) can form potential forms by changing the する (suru) to できる (dekiru) directly: 理解できる (rikai dekiru, “to be able to understand”).
In headlines and enumeration of events, the ending する (suru) can be dropped, leaving the verbal noun at the end of the sentence provided that it is not bound:
午(ご)後(ご )２(に)時(じ)に到(とう)着(ちゃく)。 ― Gogo niji ni tōchaku. ― Arrived at 2 PM.

See also Category:Japanese suru verbs.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	さ・し・せ*	sa shi se*
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	し	shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	する	suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	する	suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	すれ	sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	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

Classical conjugation of "す" (サ行変格活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

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
Volitional	せむ	semu

Synonyms

(to do): 致(いた)す (itasu) (humble)
(to do): やる (yaru) (colloquial)
(to do): なす (nasu) (somewhat archaic, usage is more limited)
(to do): 行(おこな)う (okonau, “to carry out”)
(used to make a verb): 〜る (-ru), a much less productive suffix for turning a noun into a verb

Etymology 2

Reading for various kanji spellings.

Verb

する • (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;^[5] 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”)

References

^ “為”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Uwano, Zendo (2002 October 31) “見島方言の用言のアクセント調査報告 [A Report on the Accentual Surveys of Verbs and Adjectives in the Mishima Dialect]”, in 環太平洋の「消滅に瀕した言語」にかんする緊急調査研究 [Endangered languages of the Pacific Rim]‎^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 September 2022
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[KDJ2-1] “為”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[3] Uwano, Zendo (2002 October 31) “見島方言の用言のアクセント調査報告 [A Report on the Accentual Surveys of Verbs and Adjectives in the Mishima Dialect]”, in 環太平洋の「消滅に瀕した言語」にかんする緊急調査研究 [Endangered languages of the Pacific Rim]‎^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 September 2022

[NHK-4] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[KDJ-5] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

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