71829
I'm a beginner, so I'm sorry if this is obvious: I was just reading a text
which said

> 虫取りをしました

which, according to google, means "I took insects", which confused me at first
because 取り is already a verb, isn't it? What would it mean if instead of that,
the text had said

> 虫取りました

what role does the 取り verb play in the sentence if する is the main verb in the
original?
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2019-09-15T19:18:31.290
71828
2019-09-15T21:21:37.403
2019-09-15T19:32:56.877
35392
35392
question
verbs
Difference between 虫取り and 虫取りをする?
I couldn't find "虫取{むしと}る" (and so "虫取{むしと}ります") in any dictionary.

"虫{むし}取{と}り" is a noun, composed of "虫{むし}" which means insect, and the
nominalization of "取{と}る" which generally means "to take", but in this case
can be interpreted as "to catch". "取{と}る" is nominalized by taking its stem,
ie. turning its る to a り.

So in the end, "虫取り" is a compound noun that means "catching insects", and can
be turned into a verb when used along with "する"; therefore "虫取りをする" means "to
catch insects", or more literally, "to do insect catching".
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-15T21:21:37.403
71829
2019-09-15T21:21:37.403
18582
71828
answer