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According to [Chocolate's
comment](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/5125/when-
are-%E3%81%B8-and-%E3%81%AB-used-together/5126#comment12825_5126) to a
question, some suru-nouns can be followed by the purposive `に` directly, but
others require (the stem of) `する` in between.

> 面会しに行く  
>  面会に行く  
>  料理しに行く  
>  × 料理に行く

Other examples that Chocolate gives are:

> {観光/謝罪/調査/返却/回収/撮影/報告/面会}に{行く/来る}  
>  × {雑談/読書/料理}に{行く/来る}

When can a suru-noun be used directly before the purpose-に without (the stem
of) `する`?
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2012-03-29T00:58:08.890
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question
grammar particles particle-に
When does a suru-noun require し in front of a purposive-に?
For a lot of する verb, the stem is also a noun. And before に, noun form / 連用形
are acceptable.

So you get this, for 調査する, you can use 調査に (as 調査 is a noun) or 調査しに (as 調査し
is the 連用形 of 調査する). For 遊ぶ/遊び, only 遊びに is possible, because no verb as 遊びする
exists, so 遊びしに in no valid.

The し in しに is the part of the previous verb, not a verb (する) itself.
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2012-03-29T01:12:21.560
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I guess, for the words that Chocolate claims that you don't need `する`, (I
don't necessarily agree with Chocolate's native intuition, but still I can
understand the feeling) they are activities that in the default cases, you go
somewhere to do it:

> 観光/謝罪/調査/返却/回収/撮影/報告/面会  
>  sightseeing/appologize/investigate/return/collect/film/report/meet

They are something that you need either an opponent person or an object, and
you need to go to that place to do it. On the other hand, the other suru-nouns
do not have that nature:

> 雑談/読書/料理  
>  chat/read/cook

are something you do at a fixed location. Note the difference between 面会,
which includes moving of the subject to meet the other person, whereas 雑談 does
not include that meaning. I guess this is the underlying difference that leads
to Chocolate's native judgements.
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2012-04-04T00:23:24.013
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answer