Hi,
Not sure if this should go on the feedback category, but I’ve seen for example here: https://www.wanikani.com/vocabulary/作業 on patterns of use there is に and を, but if this is a verbal noun, it should also mean “to do work”, right? Does this mean 作業する is the same as 作業をする? Should there be a pattern of use for suru verbs so we understand the meaning difference if any?
Thanks.
@Mods what do you think?
Yes, to put it simply, but you may have to tweak the the particles you use on other words in the sentence depending on which form you use.
Nice, thanks! Then my guess is correct and if it says “verbal noun” it is implied whatever+suru is possible and then there are examples of other valid constructions 
Hey! Before I pass this on, I want to clarify what’s being asked. Are you saying you want verbal noun entries to include a する entry? So for example, the 作業 item would have:
作業を〜
作業に〜
作業する
And this is to clarify the difference between 作業する and 作業をする, is that correct?
So perhaps first I should find out if there is a difference between 作業する and 作業をする that could be quickly demonstrated in translation. Would that be a good first step?
Hi!
Yes, that is what I expected, or at least to be one example of use below inside the Context Sentences section. If I don’t know exactly what a verbal noun is, then from looking at the page I don’t know that 作業する exists or what does it mean.
I’ve also seen some examples of words that are tagged as verbal nouns, like https://www.wanikani.com/vocabulary/心配 which then there is a separate entry like https://www.wanikani.com/vocabulary/心配する so I’m not really sure what is the rule to make 2 different cards, and even whether verbal noun means automatically that a する version exists. If it is so, IMHO, I’d leave just the basic version and include a する entry like you say on every such case, so there is consistency.
I asked the content team about the difference between verbal noun forms like 作業をする and 作業する. Whether or not this results in a change to how patterns of use are handled, I can’t say, but we’ll get this question answered.
The content team did some discussing, and came back with a reply, which I will share here:
Hi,
Thanks for your question about 〜する and 〜をする verbs! The short answer is that they’re basically the same in terms of meaning. For some verb phrases, the する verb version without を is more common, so that’s what we teach. For other verb phrases, the version with を is more common, so we try to teach that.
We can compare versions with and without を for 心配 and 作業 on Google:
- 心配する 16 million hits, 心配をする 6 million
- 作業する 12.9 million hits, 作業をする 34 million
Both versions are possible for both, but there are clear preferences. 作業する is more like the を has been dropped from the more standard 作業をする. And 心配をする is more like the を has been added to the more standard 心配する.
In terms of small nuance differences, for cases like 作業をする, marking the object with を feels more “formal” or deliberate, so the version that drops the を can feel more casual and colloquial.
I recommend checking out this grammar article on the Tofugu website if you’re interested in learning more about する verbs!
Thanks a lot! That is a very detailed explanation!