We've covered a lot of Japanese in our NDL's so far.

All in all, we've seen somewhere around 6,600 sentences in Japanese. *_*

Dang.

The challenge now is figuring out which content us learners of Japanese need to know that has not yet been covered in any of the lessons.

And the other day, I found just such a word, a word that I was shocked has not been covered in any of our lessons yet:

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慣れる (なれる // to get used to; to grow accustomed to; to become skilled in)

An example:

プーケット出身なので、暑さには慣れてます。
プーケット　しゅっしん　なので、　あつさ　に　は　なれてます。
I’m from Phuket, so I’m used to hot weather.
Literally: “Phuket + (my) origin + なので (=so / because), + heat + に + は + am used to.”

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👷 Construction 👷

Two things will always come before the verb 慣れる：A NOUN and the particle に.

Well, I shouldn't say "always," since these might be dropped from the sentence if the thing [NOUN] that someone is used to can be understood from context.

Anyway, yeah:

NOUN ＋ に ＋ 慣れる
= get used to NOUN

This rule makes sense from an English perspective, too.

For example, grammatically you can't say "I'm from Phuket, so I'm used to hot."

Instead of "hot," an adjective, we'd need a noun like "heat" in "used to the heat" or "weather" in "used to hot weather."

In our Japanese example, we changed our i-adjective, 暑い (あつい // hot [weather]) into a noun by removing the い and putting さ, giving us 暑さ (あつさ// heat [of the weather]):

プーケット出身なので、暑さには慣れてます。
プーケット　しゅっしん　なので、　あつさ　に　は　なれてます。
I’m from Phuket, so I’m used to hot weather.
Literally: “Phuket + (my) origin + なので (=so / because), + heat + に + は + am used to.”

(See this lesson for more about turning i-adjectives into nouns: [NDL #121] - Making Adjectives into Nouns & Other Horror Stories.)

Some of you might be wondering why in the world there is a は between に and 慣れてます (which is an abbreviation of 慣れています, by the way).

The answer is: Please don't ask me difficult questions like that.

The ever-so-slightly less disappointing answer is: It changes the nuance of the sentence. For more on how it changes the nuance, please read all 600+ lessons on Japanese we've seen so far. Though one of the first things people stress about, getting a feel for the nuances of particles is one of the last things you'll master in your journey to becoming the ultimate master of Japanese.

I'm only talking about this now because I wanted to mention that you can put things like the particle は or adverbs between "NOUN + に" and 慣れる.

Moving on.

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Here's an example using 慣れる that you might find particularly useful:

日本語の語順になかなか慣れません。
にほんご　の　ごじゅん　に　なかなか　なれません。
I just can’t get used to the word order of Japanese sentences.
Literally: “Japanese (language) + の + word order + に + (can’t) really / just (can’t seem to) / as one thinks/wishes + not get used to.”

Writing the literal meaning of the word なかなか in isolation is very difficult to do. All dictionary translations say things like "by no means" or "not readily." I guess those are OK, but I don't find them very helpful.

But if we look at a Japanese-only definition, things become much clearer:

（多くあとに打消しの語を伴って）容易に実現しないさま。
(usually followed by word in negative form) not easily realized.

Another one says:

（打ち消しの語を伴って）思ったとおりには。容易には。
(with a word in negative form) as one expects. easily.

Unlike 慣れる, we have seen なかなか in quite a few past lessons. For example, this is from NDL #280:

嵐がなかなか収まらない。
あらし　が　なかなか　おさまらない。
This storm just won't die down.
Literally: “storm + が + just won't / by no means + won't die down.”

I'm getting sidetracked. Back to 慣れる...

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Use this one a bit after starting your new life in Tokyo:

やっと東京の生活に慣れてきた。
やっと　とうきょう　の　せいかつ　に　なれてきた。
I'm finally getting used to living in Tokyo.
Literally: “at last / finally + Tokyo + の + living / (daily) life + に + started getting used to (=get used to [and] + came).”

Or use this one to badmouth your friend Ash:

アッシュのわがままにはもう慣れたよ。
アッシュ　の　わがまま　に　は　もう　なれた　よ。
I’ve gotten used to Ash’s selfishness.
Literally: “Ash + の + selfishness + に + は + already + got used to + よ.”

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馴染む (なじむ // to become familiar with; to get used to)

The reason that I realized we hadn't seen the verb 慣れる yet is that I was planning to mention it when the verb 馴染む (なじむ) came up in the sentence in NDL #610:

フィンランドの文化は日本の文化と全く違いますが、半年もたたないうちにすっかりこっちの生活になじんでしまいました。
フィンランド　の　ぶんか　は　にほん　の　ぶんか　と　まったく　ちがいます　が、　はんとし　も　たたない　うち　に　すっかり　こっち　の　せいかつ　に　なじんで　しまいました。
Finland’s culture is completely different from Japan’s, but I grew completely accustomed to living here in under half a year.
Literally: “Finland + の + culture + は + Japan + の + culture + と + completely + differs + が (=but), + half a year + も + didn’t pass + within / inside (of) + に + completely + here + の + living / daily life + に + (completely) got used to / grew accustomed to.”

That's a long sentence. Here's a shorter one:

新しい職場にはもう馴染めましたか？
あたらしい　しょくば　に　は　もう　なじめました　か？
Have you settled in at your new workplace?
Literally: “new + workplace + に + は + already + became familiar with + か？”

You might have been able to guess this just looking at the above examples, but the nuance of 馴染む is a bit different than 慣れる.

Specifically, 馴染む refers to a deeper level of familiarity than 慣れる. So I find it often translates well into things like "settle in" or "grow (completely) accustomed to."

One Japanese dictionary that I looked at says that 馴染む means:

環境などになれて違和感をもたなくなる。
To get used to something such as an environment to the point that you do not feel any sense of discomfort.

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The noun form of 馴染む, which is 馴染み (なじみ) shows up in dictionaries as "intimacy, familiarity, friendship."

There is a very common term that combines the word 幼い (おさない // very young) with 馴染み (なじみ), giving us:

幼馴染（おさななじみ // childhood friend; friend from childhood）

I'm constantly messing up the pronunciation of this word. Saying さなな just feels strange to me.

マリは幼馴染なんだ。
マリ　は　おさななじみ　なんだ。
Mari’s an old friend of mine. // Mari and I have been friends since we were kids.
Literally: “Mari + は + childhood friend + なんだ.”

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Last of all, note that 慣れる can also mean "be skilled at" or "be experienced in" in addition to meaning "get used to."

For example...

Let's say that you meet your friend in Shinjuku, and the two of you are planning to go to an izakaya. She immediately walks up to an izakaya scout (izakaya have employees that walk around outside with menus trying to get people to come into their restaurant), gets him to lower the price, and even gets some free beers thrown in with the deal.

Impressed, you say:

慣れてるね！
なれてる　ね！
(Wow.) You’re good at this!
Literally: “are used to + ね！"

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So what do you think?

Are you looking forward to having 慣れた speaking Japanese? Or maybe you already have! ^_^