～ようになる
come to / reach the point of
～ようになる is made by adding ようになる to the dictionary form of a verb. なる means “to become”, so the pattern describes a gradual change: something that was not true before is true now.
In English it maps to “come to”, “start to”, or, with a potential verb, “become able to”.
1. Change in ability (potential verb + ようになる)
This pattern very often follows a potential verb (can-form) to show that an ability developed over time.
日本語が話せるようになりました。
“I have become able to speak Japanese.”
- 日本語（にほんご）= Japanese (language)
- が = subject marker (marks what you can do with potential verbs)
- 話せる（はなせる）= can speak (potential form of 話す, to speak)
- ようになりました = have become able to
2. Change in habit or behavior
With an ordinary verb, ～ようになる means that someone started doing something they did not do before.
毎朝早く起きるようになりました。
“I have started waking up early every morning.”
- 毎朝（まいあさ）= every morning
- 早く（はやく）= early
- 起きる（おきる）= to wake up
- ようになりました = have come to (do)
While ～ようになる describes a change that happens to you, ～ようにする describes a deliberate effort you make to bring the change about.
How to form it
Verb dictionary form (often the potential form) + ようになる
- 話す（はなす）= to speak → 話せるようになる（はなせるようになる）= become able to speak
- 読む（よむ）= to read → 読めるようになる（よめるようになる）= become able to read
- 食べる（たべる）= to eat → 食べるようになる（たべるようになる）= come to eat / start eating
Key idea
～ようになる marks the crossing of a line: before, you did not or could not do it; now you do or can. The change is usually gradual, not a single event.
Built on the same stem
Updated .