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Compare the following sentences:

> 日本語を勉強しはじめた。  
>  日本語を勉強するようになった。

I normally think of ようになる as expressing a gradual change. So maybe I studied
just a little bit two years ago, a bit more last year, and this year I'm
studying hard. I suspect that this is not what 勉強するようになった actually means
though. Can ようになる describe a sudden change of state, i.e. today I decided that
from now on I will study Japanese?

What about はじめる? It was suggested to me in a comment to one of my answers that
はじめる is "to start doing something at the moment and implies that the action
will not be continuing for a long time". I always used to think that はじめる
simply meant "to start" with no restrictions on time etc. Now I'm not so sure.

In short, when should I use はじめる and when should I use ようになる to describe
starting something.
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2019-04-14T09:30:16.347
66573
2019-04-14T10:52:46.540
2019-04-14T10:52:46.540
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question
grammar
Difference between はじめる and ようになる
> Can ようになる describe a sudden change of state, i.e. today I decided that from
> now on I will study Japanese?

It can't unless you actually work on it. However...

> Can ようになる describe a sudden change of state?

Yes, once the sudden change is carried out, you can use it.

> I always used to think that はじめる simply meant "to start" with no
> restrictions on time etc.

How you understand it is correct. In other words, はじめる doesn't necessarily
mean it's a habit, which ようになる implies. So, 勉強しはじめる just generally means to
start studying, while 勉強するようになる means that how one studies becomes a habit.

> 日本語を勉強してはじめた

It means that you started something after you studied Japanese.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-14T10:23:19.943
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2019-04-14T10:23:19.943
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answer