〜にする

にする is how you say you CHOOSE one thing among several options: 私はコーヒーにします (I'll have coffee). It's the go-to phrase when ordering at a restaurant, picking a gift, picking a date and time — any time there's a list to choose from. The server will ask you with this very pattern: 何にしますか／どれにしますか (what will you have / which one will you pick?).

Don't confuse it with になる, which you learned at N5: になる is changing into something on its own, a change of state (先生になる — to become a teacher), while にする is you making the decision to choose. This "act — become" する・なる pair runs all through Japanese, and you just met it again in ことにする・ことになる.

The division of labor between the two deciding patterns is very clear: preceded by a NOUN → にする (会議は月曜日にする); preceded by a VERB → ことにする (会議を月曜日に開くことにする). Also remember the suggestion form 〜にしましょう (let's go with…) and the short answer これにします (I'll take this one) — two forms you'll use daily in Japan.

Examples

• 「何(なん)にしますか。」「私(わたし)はコーヒーにします。」

  "What will you have?" — "I'll have coffee."

• 誕生日(たんじょうび)のプレゼントは時計(とけい)にしました。

  For the birthday present, I decided on a watch.

• 会議(かいぎ)は来週(らいしゅう)の月曜日(げつようび)にしましょう。

  As for the meeting, let's make it next Monday.

Related patterns

• 〜ことにする
• 〜ことになる