する ・ やる

[Diggity]

Can someone elaborate on the difference between suru- "to do", and yaru - "to do, to perform."

Thanks.

[Mukade]

Basically, する is more polite.

[Diggity]

So they are interchangeable? It shows suru being used with things like studying and yaru with things like sports and doesn't mention anything about politeness. (I am using the Genki book.) Are there any instances where I have to use one over the other, or no? And thanks for the reply!

[InsanityRanch]

OK, a few thoughts.

"Yatta!" is an expression of pleasure or triumph when someone succeeds. Don't think "Shita!" has the same sense.

Yaru can be used to mean give, but only to animals, children or inferiors (and really, figuring out who your inferiors might be is a daunting task.) But "inu ni esa wo yaru" means to feed the dog.

"ippai yaru" means to get a drink.

And finally, yaru is a euphemism for having sex.

I get the impression men use yaru more than women. In particular, yaru can be attached to the -te form of another verb to add emphasis. "koroshiteyaru" means "I'm gonna kill 'em!"

In any case, if you are uncertain, you'd probably best err on the side of using suru.

HTH

Shira