How to use ワクワクする properly


All examples are example sentences from a dictionary.

I read that ワクワクする expresses an instant reaction rather than a state, as in:

> 彼はその美しい光景を見てわくわくした。

> 彼女はその有名な歌手に会えると思うとわくわくした。

But here in this following sentence it doesn’t seem to express a reaction of a
person. To me it seems more as an adjective.

> 新しい枕を試すのはわくわくする

I understand this sentence as:

> 新しい枕を試すのはわくわくすることだ with the “ことだ” dropped. “Trying the new pillow is
> exciting.” I think のが would also work in that case.

If I wanted to say “I am excited about trying the new pillow” I would say:

> 新しい枕を試すにはわくわくしている Is this correct?

With には instead of のは and with する instead of している it sounds to me as if I am
explaining a habit, something like: I get excited about trying a new pillow.

> 新しい枕を試すにはわくわくする

I think this other sentence should be fine, but sounds kinda strange to my
European ears.

> 新しい枕を試すのはわくわくしている

This sentence is merely an example sentence out of context I found in a
dictionary called “imiwa?”. I’m interested in the grammar nuances. If this
sentence seems weird, all my questions could be applied to a different
sentence, for example this one I found: “ジェーンを出迎える事はわくわくします。” Or this one I
found here on Japanese stackexchange: “ 初めて日本に行くの。すっごいワクワクする！”

Could I also say this as a cleft sentence?

What I am excited about…

> ワクワクしているのは新しい枕を試すことだ

What is exciting…

> ワクワクするのは新しい枕を試すことだ

What I get excited about…

> 私がワクワクするのは新しい枕を試すことだ

Is my reasoning correct? This is as far as I got. I am a native speaker of
neither Japanese nor English.




It's true that the basic meaning of わくわくする is "(for someone) to get/feel
excited", not "to be exciting".

> 新しい枕を試すのはわくわくする。

This may look like "Trying a new pillow _is exciting_ ", but actually it's
not. Read this as "As for (the act of) trying a new pillow, I (always) get
excited", with an implicit "I" as the subject. A more idiomatic translation
would be "Trying a new pillow (always) makes me excited".

わくわくすること can be translated "exciting things", as if わくわくする were an adjective
meaning "exciting", but its literal translation is "a thing about which [one]
gets excited". The subject of わくわくする is a human (implicit "I" or "one"). If
you're still unsure, read [this
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/54677/5010) for adverbial-head
relative clauses.

> ワクワクするのは新しい枕を試すことだ

This is a cleft sentence whose literal translation is "It is (the act of)
trying new pillows that I get excited about". Again, "What's exciting is
trying a new pillow" may be a correct and natural translation, but it's not a
very literal translation.

* * *

Also note that わくわく refers to an excitement about something **in the future**
; in other words, it expresses someone is **looking forward** to something.

> 美しい光景を見てわくわくした。

This is a natural sentence if the beautiful scenery foreshadows something
exciting in the future, for example, if you are about to start an adventure in
the scenery. However, this sentence is not natural if you are simply impressed
by a beautiful scenery.

