～やる (1) (to do for / to give)

• Reading: やる
• Romaji: yaru
• Formation: Noun + を + やる / Noun + に + Noun + を + やる

Meaning

A verb meaning to cause something or someone to move to a place, or to do, give, eat, or drink something. It is a casual or rough equivalent of あげる for giving to animals, plants, or those of lower status, and also functions as a general verb for 'to do.'

やる has several core uses: giving to animals or plants (花に水をやる), performing an action (仕事をやる), and sending someone somewhere (子供を学校にやる). As a giving verb, it was historically used for giving to social inferiors, but in modern Japanese it is mainly restricted to animals, plants, and very casual contexts. Using やる instead of あげる for people can sound rough or condescending. As a general action verb, やる is casual and energetic, common in everyday speech. It also appears in compound expressions like やっていく (to manage/get by) and やってくる (to come along).

Examples

1. 毎朝、庭の花に水をやるのが日課だ。 Watering the garden flowers every morning is my daily routine.
2. 息子をアメリカの大学にやることにした。 We decided to send our son to a university in America.
3. この仕事は今週中にやらなければならない。 This work has to be done within this week.

Usage Guide

Context: spoken, everyday

Tone: casual

Do Say

• 犬に散歩のあとで水をやった。
• 来年、娘を留学にやるつもりだ。
• 今日はやることがたくさんあるから、忙しい。
• まずはやってみないとわからないよ。

Don't Say

• 先生にプレゼントをやった。(Using やる for giving to a social superior is rude; use さしあげる or あげる) → 先生にプレゼントをさしあげた。
• お客様にお茶をやってください。(やる is inappropriate for polite service contexts; use さしあげる or お出しする) → お客様にお茶をお出ししてください。
• 友達に本をやった。(In modern Japanese, やる sounds rough when giving to peers; あげる is standard) → 友達に本をあげた。

Origin & History

やる originally meant 'to send' or 'to dispatch' in classical Japanese. Over time it broadened to include giving (especially downward in social hierarchy), performing actions, and sending people or things to destinations.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal