#kimeru

There are many different moments when you have to make a decision. Do you want the soup or the salad? Pokemon Sun or Pokemon Moon? A morning class or an evening class? In English, this is a pretty unanimous phrase:
“I decided on the soup.” “I decided I want Pokemon Sun.” “I decided to take the morning class.”

More casually, it can be reduced to “I picked” or even “I’m doing”, the latter being a very interesting phrase. You can’t actually “do” a soup, but it’s another way to say that a decision has been made. In that respect, Japanese is similar. But for now, let’s just talk about 決める/きめる.

決める is the literal closest word to the English “to decide”. I mean, 決める means just that, “to decide”.

ニューヨークに行くことに決める。

I decided to go to New York.

パーティのひどりを決めました。

I decided on a date for the party.

その大学に入っていると決めます。

I decided to enroll in that college.

Now, some of you may look at the sentences/translations and feel it’s simple enough. But someone of you may have noticed a small, yet essential difference between the examples: the particles. That’s right, 決める uses に, を, and と. Because it can.

This can be something that can be difficult to explain, and sometimes people don’t bother to explain it at all, but here goes.

に決める

に決める is the most standard paring. It refers to a decision being made.

りんご(をたべるのこと)に決めました。

I decided to eat an apple.

In this case, the (をたべるのこと) is implied to some degree because most likely you would have picked an apple to eat it. In general, always refer to に決める if you’re really stuck. That said, it’s hard to describe the full usage of に決める without going into the other two.

を決める

This is a bit more nuanced than the former example. を決める doesn’t state the decision directly, but rather what the category that is decided upon. Let’s go back to the previous example of eating an apple. If I had to use を決める:

くだものを食べるのことを決めました。

I decided upon a fruit to eat.

Here, the result would likely still be the same: I picked an apple. But this example doesn’t tell you the exact fruit I picked. Instead, it described the category. If we go back to the first を決める example:

パーティのひどりを決めました。

I decided on a date for the party

I’m not telling you the exact date here, am I? If I did, it would be more like this:

パーティのひどりは２月11日に決めました。

I decided the date of the party will be February 11th.

Here, に決める is used because I am sharing the exact result of what was being decide on. Let’s go back to を決める:

くるまを決めました。

I decided on a car.

This is literally all it means. I’m not telling what kind of car, what year, or any specifics. If I did share a specific detail (like a black car or something), に決める is more appropriate because now I’m telling you I decided on a specific car/result.

と決める

と決める is interesting because while it can substitute for either に決める or を決める, it’s actually not a good regular substitute for either. Yeah, I realize I made things more confusing.

The thing about と決める isn’t that is it is following a type of translation rule, but rather an emotional one. と決める is used to create a sense of “Finally!” or “After a long time”. It’s used to convey that a lot of thought and time went into making the decision. If we look at the original example of と決める:

その大学に入っていると決めます。

I decided to enroll in that college.

The use of と決める conveys that it took a long time to decide to enroll in a specific college. This is understandable as college is usually one of those things people try to think about. Let’s look at a comparison between と決める and に決める.

まこととけっこんすることに決めました。

まこととけっこんすることと決めました。

Very literally, they both mean “I decided to marry Makoto.”. Sentence 1 conveys a more natural, easy transition to making the decision to marry Makoto. Sentence 2 conveys a more deliberate moment of consideration. In the second example, maybe there were doubts or issues regarding Makoto as a marriage partner. Maybe in sentence two it was an arranged marriage situation involving multiple options. The point is that the use of と決める means that a long train of thought was put into the decision.

Same thing with を決める:

ダイエットを決めました。

ダイエットと決めました。

Again, both mean “I decided on a diet”. を決める, like に決める, is a more neutral, natural decision making process. と決める is a deliberate, intentional choice within diets.

In summation, に決める is the Foreigner’s Privilege choice. For a non-specific decision, を決める is the best. To convey a serious and considerate decision result, と決める is better.

I’m not really going to do examples for this one because と決める can technically be used as an answer to anything (who am I to judge how long it takes for you to decide on a toothpaste?). But I will ask you to consider specifics vs categories.

Red vs Colors

Cats vs Animals

Target vs Department Stores

Halloween vs Holidays

Lavender vs Flowers

Penne vs Noodles

California vs U.S. States

By keeping in mind conveying a decision on a specific result is に決める and a decision within a category is を決める, you’ve pretty much have a grasp on the difference between the two particles.

As always, feel free to ask if any questions come up!

#japanese #japanese grammar #kimeru #決める #to decide #decided #decisions