Preparing and deciding in Japanese: ておく and ことにする

Level B1

Preparing and deciding in Japanese: ておく and ことにする

By the end of this lesson, you can organize what you're going to do: what you'll get done beforehand and what you've settled on. The central idea is this: 買っておきます (katte okimasu) says you do something now so that it's ready for later, and 行くことにしました (iku koto ni shimashita) says you've made a choice, which is not the same as つもり, a firm intention, or 予定, what's on the schedule. Compare パンを買います, “I'll buy some bread,” with パンを買っておきます, “I'll buy some bread beforehand,” and 行く予定です, “the plan is to go,” with 行くことにしました, “I've decided to go.”

Review: four pieces you'll need

These four pieces come back in this lesson, even if this is the first time you've seen them. The て form links actions in order: パンを買って、公園に行きます (pan o katte, kōen ni ikimasu), “I'll buy some bread and then go to the park.” パン (pan) is bread and 公園 (kōen) is a park. 海に行くつもりです (umi ni iku tsumori desu), “I intend to go to the beach,” says what you've made up your mind to do. アナさんは土曜日に行く予定です (Ana-san wa doyōbi ni iku yotei desu), “Ana's plan is to go on Saturday,” says what's on the schedule; 土曜日 is Saturday. と思います (to omoimasu) after a thought gives your opinion: 十時がいいと思います (jūji ga ii to omoimasu), “I think ten would be good.” Listen and repeat.

Two new pieces and the words they go with

Two new pieces do the work here. ておく (te oku) is おく after a verb's て form, and ことにする (koto ni suru) follows its dictionary form. The verbs below are shown in their dictionary form, and this lesson needs their て forms too: 買う (kau, buy) → 買って (katte), 食べる (taberu, eat) → 食べて (tabete), 飲む (nomu, drink) → 飲んで (nonde), 言う (iu, say) → 言って (itte), 見る (miru, look) → 見て (mite). どこ (doko) is “where.” 前に (mae ni) is “before.”

Model: two colleagues change Saturday's plan

Listen once without reading. One colleague thought the other was going to the beach, but B has chosen the park instead. They share out the shopping and fix a time. 海 (umi) is the sea, here the beach. じゃあ (jā) is “then,” お茶 (ocha) is tea, 何時 (nanji) is “what time,” 昼ご飯 (hirugohan) is lunch, 一時 (ichiji) is one o'clock, 朝ご飯 (asagohan) is breakfast and 分かりました (wakarimashita) is “got it.” Notice two kinds of decision: 行かないことにしました reports one already made, and 行くことにしましょう makes one together.

Doing it now for later: て form + おきます

Take the て form and add おきます: 買う → 買って → 買っておきます. The て form of 飲む is 飲んで, so you get 飲んでおきます; the で comes from the verb, not from a new rule. The action stays the same and the particles stay where they were. What おく adds is the reason: you do it now so you're ready for something later. パンを買います only says you'll buy bread; パンを買っておきます says the bread will be ready when it's needed. In English, “in advance” or “get … done” often carries this idea. Don't confuse this with the て that links two actions. パンを買って、公園に行きます is two actions in a row; 買っておきます is one action, done in advance.

おく takes endings like any verb. おきました is for something already done: 来週の予定を見ておきました. おいてください asks someone to do it: 朝ご飯を食べておいてください. おきましょうか offers: when the action is yours alone, ましょう with か stops meaning “let's” and becomes “shall I…?”: 水を買っておきましょうか, “Shall I buy some water beforehand?” Among friends, use the dictionary form: 今パンを食べておく.

To say what you're preparing for, use a noun + の + 前に: 会議の前に (kaigi no mae ni), “before the meeting,” テストの前に (tesuto no mae ni), “before the test.” コーヒー (kōhī) is coffee, 水 (mizu) is water, 今 (ima) is “now,” and in アナさんに言っておきます, に marks the person you tell. On its own, 置く (oku) means “to put,” but after a て form it no longer means that and is usually written in kana. ておく has other uses, such as leaving something as it is; they aren't part of this lesson.

買って／飲んでおきます

Saying what you've chosen: ことにします, ことにしました

Put ことにしました after the dictionary form: 行く → 行くことにしました. To say you've decided not to do something, use the plain negative before こと: 行かない → 行かないことにしました, 飲まない → 飲まないことにします. こと turns the action into something you can talk about, as in 行ったことがあります (itta koto ga arimasu, “I've been there”), and に plus する means settling on it.

The ending tells you when the decision happens. ことにしました reports one already made. ことにします usually makes it as you speak: 今日は魚を食べることにします, “I'll go with fish today” (今日, kyō, is today; 魚, sakana, is fish). ことにしましょう makes it with someone: 十時に行くことにしましょう. Among friends, say ことにした: 明日は家にいることにした, where 明日 (ashita) is tomorrow and 家にいる (ie ni iru) is “to be at home.”

The one who decides is the subject of the sentence. It's often you, but it can be someone else: アナさんは月曜日に行くことにしました, “Ana decided to go on Monday.” 来週 (raishū) is next week and 日本 (Nihon) is Japan.

行く／行かないことにしました

Decided or planned?

The first four sentences are about one trip. 行きたいです is a wish. 行くつもりです is a firm intention: you've made up your mind. 行く予定です is what's on the schedule. 行くことにしました points to the choice itself, as something that has happened: the question is settled, just as B settled it in the model by dropping the beach.

予定 doesn't say who chose: 会議は月曜日の予定です only tells you when the meeting is. ことにする says the subject chose, so it doesn't translate every “it's been decided.” When a decision comes from other people or from the circumstances, Japanese usually takes another form, which comes in a later lesson. None of these sentences is a promise: plans and decisions can both change.

Your turn, and the summary

This time you and a colleague are choosing where to go on Saturday. Cover the sentences below. Ask where to go, say you think the beach would be good, settle it together and offer to let Ana know. Only then check. Then try it again with another place, and add something you'll do beforehand with おきます. Finally, say what you've chosen with ことにしました and what's on the schedule with 予定です.

In short: て form + おきます is doing something now for later. Dictionary form or ない form + ことにしました is a choice already made, ことにします is one made as you speak, and ことにしましょう is one made together. つもり is a firm intention, and 予定 is what's on the schedule.

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