Learn Japanese with Seju (Talent Label): What Does “Noun + ni suru” Mean? (N4)

Seju is a talent production label under GROVE established on April 7, 2022. It focuses on female talent who go beyond the usual scope of influencers to create new forms of “kawaii.”

1. せじゅチャンネルスタート。スタート！

• Noun Command / Announcement: “スタート (sutāto)” is a katakana noun meaning “start”. Nouns can be used by themselves in highly casual conversation to give commands, announce events, or celebrate, acting like a short exclamation without a verb.

2. やっほー。

• Interjection: “やっほー (yahhō)” is an interjection used as a casual, cheerful greeting among friends, matching “Yahoo!” or “Hey there!” in English.

3. 私は、えっと、やりたいことがあります。

• Particles & Interjection: “私 (watashi)” is a pronoun for “I”, marked by the topic marker particle “は (wa)”. “えっと (etto)” is an interjection used as a filler word when thinking of what to say next, like “well” or “let me see”.
• Desire Modality: “やりたい (yaritai)” is the wish/desire modality form of the verb “やる (yaru – to do)”, created by changing the verb to its ます-stem and adding “たい (tai)”. This directly modifies the noun “こと (koto – thing)”.
• Existential Structure: “あります (arimasu)” is the polite existential verb meaning “there is” or “to have” for inanimate objects. The particle “が (ga)” functions as the object marker for existential structures to show what exists or what someone has.

4. 好きなものの大食いやりま～す。

• Noun Phrase & Particle: “好きなもの (sukina mono)” is a noun phrase meaning “things one likes”. The noun-modifying particle “の (no)” connects it to “大食い (ōgui – big eating / competitive eating)”.
• Verb Tense & Intention: “やりま～す (yarimasu)” is the polite form of the verb “やる (yaru – to do)”, lengthened casually to show excitement. It expresses the speaker’s firm intention or declaration to start an activity.

5. やったわ。幸せ企画。

• Verb Tense & Modality Particle: “やった (yatta)” is the plain past tense of the verb “やる (yaru)”, used as an interjection meaning “We did it!” or “Yay!”. The sentence-ending particle “わ (wa)” is a soft modality marker often used in casual speech to express admiration, surprise, or emotional emphasis.
• Compound Noun: “幸せ企画 (shiawase kikaku)” is a compound noun combining “幸せ (shiawase – happy)” and “企画 (kikaku – project/plan)”.

6. ね？

• Sentence-Ending Particle: “ね (ne)” is a casual sentence-ending particle used as a short interjection to seek agreement or confirmation from the listeners, meaning “Right?” or “Don’t you agree?”.

7. 好きなもの。好きなものにします。

• Grammar Pattern: “好きなものにします (sukina mono ni shimasu)” uses the important grammar pattern “Noun + にします (ni shimasu)”, which translates to “to decide on” or “to choose”. It connects directly to a noun to show a personal decision or choice made from multiple options.

8. どこですか？好きなもの…。

• Interrogative & Copula: “どこ (doko)” is an interrogative pronoun meaning “where”, followed by the polite copula “です (desu)” and the question particle “か (ka)”” to ask a standard polite question.

9. 食べたい……。

• Desire Modality: “食べたい (tabetai)” is the desire modality form of the verb “食べる (taberu – to eat)”, created by attaching “たい (tai)” to the verb stem. Using the plain “たい” form by itself at the end of a sentence directly conveys the speaker’s internal wish or craving to the listeners.

10. それは、今から買いに行きますよ～。

• Pronoun & Particle: “それ (sore)” is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that”, marked by the topic particle “は (wa)”. “今から (ima kara)” combines the noun “今 (ima – now)” with the particle “から (kara – from)” to mean “from now”.
• Purpose of Motion & Modality: “買いに (kai ni)” combines the ます-stem of the verb “買う (kau – to buy)” with the particle “に (ni)”, which marks the purpose of motion. This is followed by the motion verb “行きます (ikimasu – to go)”, creating the pattern “Verb stem + に行く” (to go to do something). “よ (yo)” is a sentence-ending particle that functions as an assertive modality marker, used to assure the listener, deliver new information, or add an upbeat tone to the sentence.

11. 買いに行くのね、今から。

• Modality Particles & Word Order: “買いに行くのね (kai ni iku no ne)” uses the sentence-ending particle “の (no)” which functions as a soft modality marker to show expectation or confirmation, combined with the tag-question particle “ね (ne)” to seek agreement. The word order is casually inverted, with the time phrase “今から (ima kara)” placed at the very end for conversational emphasis.

12. そう。買いに行くの。

• Interjection & Modality Particle: “そう (sō)” is an adverb used as a casual interjection meaning “That’s right” or “Yes”. “買いに行くの (kai ni iku no)” uses the sentence-ending particle “の (no)” in a plain statement to express a soft, explanatory assertion common in casual speech.

13. 行ってきま～す。

• Set Greeting Phrase: “行ってきます (ittekimasu)” is a set greeting phrase used when leaving a place where you intend to return, combining “行って (itte – go)” and “きます (kimasu – come)”, literally meaning “I will go and come back.”

Fill in the blanks ( ) to complete the natural conversation.

A: いらっしゃいませ。ご注文はお決まりですか？
B: えっと、オムライス（     ）します。

1: を

2: へ

3: に