Meaning of する verb in 「その少女は小さい口元をしている」


I was looking up in the dictionary, and came across a sentence like this:

> その少女は小さい口元をしている。

From what I understand, している means "is doing" or "does". So the girl "does"
her little mouth?

Then I rechecked the meaning of する, and the only closer meaning I found is "to
wear". One "wears" a mouth? Though it makes a bit sense, for me the most
appropriate word would be "to have". One can't take off the mouth then "wear"
it back.

Is this sentence correct? Is there another meaning that makes sense that I
don't know? Or "to wear" totally makes sense but I didn't understood it right?




> Is this sentence correct?

Yes, your sentence is perfectly correct.

and

> Is there another meaning that makes sense that I don't know?

Yes, **[there are many meanings of する suru
(Wiktionary).](http://ja.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B)**

Your sentence falls under definition 11.

From the link:

> 11（修飾語 + 体の一部 + をする）その人の特徴として、そのようなものを持つ。
>
> 青い目をした少女。
>
> あの子は長い髪をしている。

Translated:

> 11 (Following the adjective + noun + **case-marking particle を** ,) the word
> (actually it is the continuative form of する → し) denotes the characteristic
> of the person related.
>
> Example 1: The little girl has blue eyes.
>
> Example 2: The girl? child? has the long hair.

Here the adjective is 小さい, in English 'small', and the referenced noun (before
し) is 口元, in English, 'mouth'.

P.S Regarding the bold marked case-making particle を, it would be hard for the
Japanese learners to comprehend ( I guess ) why it should be there so that I
would like to explain for further information. Japanese sentence has the
structure of 係り受け（かかりうけ）, which means, the former "parts of speech", here,
その少女は小さい口元を, "continuously modifies" the latter parts of the speech, in this
case, している, especially the verb し, which means **here** , "looks like",
"seems...". The examples are
**[here](http://study.pink/progressiveform.html)**.

> 状態動詞(じょうたいどうし）の現在形（げんざいけい）：
>
> ① 現在（げんざい）の一定（いってい）した状態（じょうたい）
>
> 次(つぎ）も状態動詞（じょうたいどうし）です。
>
> 「～ のようすをしている」

Translated

> The progressive form of the substantive verb
>
> ①( Expressing ) the continuous state, or the condition, or the appearance (
> in your case ), ( of something or somebody )
>
> The next is too the example of the speech using the substantive verb.
>
> It seems 〜

Let's switch the word using the above example so that you might be able to
understand more precisely.

> のようすをしている --> Swap the ようす（様子） by 口元

then

> の口元をしている。

But this does not **YET** matches with your former part of the speech.

**What is the difference then?**

It is not so hard. Since 口元, mouth is a noun, in your case the adjective 小さな
should be in place of の of the above example.

> の口元をしている

-->

> 小さな口元をしている。

Translated ( in your case )

> (The girl) seems to have the little mouth ( Though the translation is weird.
> )

Why I dared to use the word **seems** is just only to **emphasize** the verb
する, or し ( continuative form ) of your case, denotes the "appearance" or the
"condition" ( of the girl ).

I hope you were able to understand by my flimsy English....

Translated

* * *

FYI

If you would like to know the grammatical structure of している, it can be broken
into parts of speech as the following:

> し the continuative form of する
>
> て conjunctive particle, meaning, after the て follows something.
>
> いる stative verb, equivalent to English's _be_ , and the form is conclusive.

Have a nice day.




> Is this sentence correct?

Yes, your sentence is perfectly correct.

and

> Is there another meaning that makes sense that I don't know?

Yes, **[there are many meanings of する suru
(Wiktionary).](http://ja.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B)**

Your sentence falls under definition 11.

From the link:

> 11（修飾語 + 体の一部 + をする）その人の特徴として、そのようなものを持つ。
>
> 青い目をした少女。
>
> あの子は長い髪をしている。

Translated:

> 11 (Following the adjective + noun + **case-marking particle を** ,) the word
> (actually it is the continuative form of する → し) denotes the characteristic
> of the person related.
>
> Example 1: The little girl has blue eyes.
>
> Example 2: The girl? child? has the long hair.

Here the adjective is 小さい, in English 'small', and the referenced noun (before
し) is 口元, in English, 'mouth'.

P.S Regarding the bold marked case-making particle を, it would be hard for the
Japanese learners to comprehend ( I guess ) why it should be there so that I
would like to explain for further information. Japanese sentence has the
structure of 係り受け（かかりうけ）, which means, the former "parts of speech", here,
その少女は小さい口元を, "continuously modifies" the latter parts of the speech, in this
case, している, especially the verb し, which means **here** , "looks like",
"seems...". The examples are
**[here](http://study.pink/progressiveform.html)**.

> 状態動詞(じょうたいどうし）の現在形（げんざいけい）：
>
> ① 現在（げんざい）の一定（いってい）した状態（じょうたい）
>
> 次(つぎ）も状態動詞（じょうたいどうし）です。
>
> 「～ のようすをしている」

Translated

> The progressive form of the substantive verb
>
> ①( Expressing ) the continuous state, or the condition, or the appearance (
> in your case ), ( of something or somebody )
>
> The next is too the example of the speech using the substantive verb.
>
> It seems 〜

Let's switch the word using the above example so that you might be able to
understand more precisely.

> のようすをしている --> Swap the ようす（様子） by 口元

then

> の口元をしている。

But this does not **YET** matches with your former part of the speech.

**What is the difference then?**

It is not so hard. Since 口元, mouth is a noun, in your case the adjective 小さな
should be in place of の of the above example.

> の口元をしている

-->

> 小さな口元をしている。

Translated ( in your case )

> (The girl) seems to have the little mouth ( Though the translation is weird.
> )

Why I dared to use the word **seems** is just only to **emphasize** the verb
する, or し ( continuative form ) of your case, denotes the "appearance" or the
"condition" ( of the girl ).

I hope you were able to understand by my flimsy English....

Translated

* * *

FYI

If you would like to know the grammatical structure of している, it can be broken
into parts of speech as the following:

> し the continuative form of する
>
> て conjunctive particle, meaning, after the て follows something.
>
> いる stative verb, equivalent to English's _be_ , and the form is conclusive.

Have a nice day.

