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Introduction

Many students of the Japanese language find themselves stumped and frustrated by the complexity and variety of Japanese verbs, their conjugations, and their often ambiguous contexts. The mind-numbing task of memorizing them all is sometimes enough to daunt even the most ganbarō student of the language. This book is intended to ease this tremendous burden. How? Via the magical power of suru, of course!

The Japanese verb suru is roughly equivalent to the English "to do" or “to make." In English, these verbs are sometimes used in combination with various nouns to create verbal idioms or compound verbs. For example, “to do" combined with "laundry" means to wash one's laundry, and "to make" combined with “(a) reservation" means to reserve something in advance. Likewise, the verb suru can be combined with not only nouns but adjectives, loanwords, onomatopoeia, and other verbs, as well. Suru is thereby capable of creating a wide variety of versatile verbal phrases or compound verbs. And the best part is that students can increase their fluency by relying on just one conjugation pattern! This unique function of suru can be a great relief to serious students of the Japanese language. Compound-suru verbs are so commonly used that they can virtually replace the majority of regular Japanese verbs, the conjugations of which would otherwise have to be painstakingly memorized one by one.

Here are some examples of noun-suru combinations:

junbi-suru 準備する junbi (preparation) + suru

• to prepare

Asu no jugyō o junbi-shinakereba narimasen.

I must prepare for tomorrow's classes.

yoyaku-suru 予約する yoyaku (reservation) + suru

• to make a reservation

Yoyaku-shitai no desu ga.

I'd like to make a reservation, please.

These compound-suru verbs are undoubtedly familiar to any intermediate student of Japanese. But wait. There's more! Through the magic of suru, those pernicious loanwords and onomatopoeia can be easily incorporated into your everyday speech.

memorii-suru メモリーする memorii (memorize) + suru

• to memorize

Korera no dōshi no katsuyō o zenbu memori-shina-kutemo yoi to wa ureshii desu ne!

I'm glad I don't have to memorize all those complicated verb conjugations!

chin-suru チンする chin (automatic alarm sound of a microwave oven) + suru

• to cook with a microwave oven

Saikin isogashii node insutanto shokuhin o denshi-renji de chin-shite imam.

I just cook instant food with a microwave oven, since I'm so busy these days.

Additionally, almost all adjectives can be combined with sum, as in the following examples. Note that adjectives end with i when modifying nouns. When combined with suru, however, the final i becomes ku, as in the following examples:

usuku-suru 薄く する usui (thin) + suru

• to make thin

Tsugi no pankēki wa chotto usuku-shite kudasai.

Make the next pancake a little thinner.

tanoshiku-suru 楽しく する tanoshii(pleasant, fun) + suru

• to make pleasant or fun

Moshi Amaria ga itara, pātii o tanoshiku-shite kureru to omoimasu ne!

If Amalia's here, she's sure to make the party fun!

This way of using suru has recently become so fashionable in contemporary Japanese that new words are being created almost daily. It's an amusing and playful aspect of a language with a reputation for its stiff formalities.

asashan-suru アサシヤンする asashan (morning shampoo) + suru

• to shampoo in the morning

tabako-suru タバコする tabako (tobacco) + suru

• to smoke, hence to take a rest

hyakutōban-suru 110 番する hyakutōban (number 110) + suru

• to call the police

*Note that in a similar way, hyakujūkyūban (119) + suru can indicate a call to the emergency number, ichi-rei-yon-suru (104) to information, ichi-ichi-roku-suru (116) to telephone repair, ichi-nana-nana-suru (177) to obtain a weather forecast, etc. See the telephone directory for further details.

In this book you will find the various usages above demonstrated at greater length. The following section presents an easy-to-understand explanation of suru and its conjugation patterns. Refer to it throughout the book as you encounter new or unfamiliar suru conjugations.

The Magical Power of Suru is divided into twelve chapters. Ten of these are organized according to situations a foreigner coming to Japan might encounter. This topical treatment is not intended as an informational guide for the newcomer to Japan, but to offer the vocabulary one needs to navigate through such situations while applying suru verbs. The last two chapters deal specifically with other types of compound-suru verbs; that is, loanwords and onomatopoeiac words and expressions.

Each chapter is presented in four sections. "The Situation" sets the scenario, introducing possible usages of suru in a particular circumstance, be it your initial arrival in Japan, a discussion on politics, or the use of loanwords in everyday speech. Next is a "Sample Dialogue" section showcasing some of the most useful or common verbs pertinent to the situation. The verbs featured in the dialogues are given individual attention in the section titled "Structures and Synonyms." Here the reader can further examine the makeup of each suru verb in the dialogue, and compare it to other synonymous verbs. The last segment of each chapter, "For Further Study," gives similar treatment to a few other verbs considered important to the situation. Finally, an appendix offers an alphabetical list of all featured compound-suru verbs for the reader's quick reference.

In short, this book saves the student of Japanese a lot of unnecessary toil and precious time spent mastering unfathomable Japanese verbs and getting accustomed to their ever-changing forms in a variety of contexts. Now you can have it all in one simple, easy-to-use package: the magical power of suru!