Can you get back up if you fall? I guess if you tumble in one of these, at least you won’t have a skinned knee. 🤣

きょうそう
競争した
They competed

The casual past tense form of the irregular verb する is created by replacing する with した. Another way to think of it is: conjugate from the す in する.

おおぜい
大勢で競争した
There were a great number and they competed

で means ‘and’ when used to connect two separate sentences where the last word of the first sentence is です.

ひと
人たちが大勢で競争した
A great number of people competed

• たち implies there is a group of the word that is right in front of たち.
• The が particle puts emphasis on the subject.
• It answers the question: A huge crowd of what?

 き
着た人たちが大勢で競争した
A large number of dressed-up people competed

• The casual past tense form of きる is created by dropping る and adding た.
• Words with い-sound characters before る are often る-verbs aka いちだん verbs—so-called because the る gets dropped to make way for the appropriate ending and no vowel shifts happen.
• I say ‘often’ because there are some verbs that have this combo but are actually う-verbs aka ごだん verbs. There is a pattern for telling which is which but it’s not useful here since 着る is a two-character word.

ぬいぐるみを着た人たちが大勢で競争した
A large number of people wearing stuffed animal suits competed

• The particle を marks the noun that is being acted on by the subject/topic.
• Someone is doing something (the verb) to something (the noun).

きょうりゅう
  恐竜のぬいぐるみを着た人たちが大勢で競争した
A large number of people wearing dinosaur suits competed

• The particle の here is used to tell us what kind of stuffed animal suit.
• の goes between two nouns.

 

🦉 are pretty cool. What do you guys think?

なる
It becomes

 ばん
1番になる
It becomes number one

The verb なる is preceded by に when it follows a noun or な-adjective.

ふくろうが1番になる
The owl becomes number one

• The が particle puts emphasis on the subject.
• It answers the question: Who became number 1?

しろ
白いふくろうが1番になる
White owl becomes number one

い-adjectives are used as-is in front of nouns.

　せんきょ
「選挙」で白いふくろうが1番になる
White owl ranks first in the “Election”

The use of で here means ‘among’ or ‘(with)in’.

　どうぶつ
「動物の選挙」で白いふくろうが1番になる
White owl ranks first in “Animal Election”

• The particle の here is used to tell us what kind of election.
• の goes between two nouns or between nouns and adjectives that are kind-of nouns.

どうぶつえん
動物園　「動物の選挙」で白いふくろうが1番になる
White owl ranks first in zoo’s “Animal Election”

The election is specific to the zoo so の in the gap here makes the most sense.

なが  の  けん
長野県の動物園　「動物の選挙」で白いふくろうが1番になる
White owl ranks first in Nagano Zoo’s “Animal Election”

• 県 means ‘prefecture.’
• Locations in Japan are often labeled with their classification. This is especially apparent when you look at the names of government organizations.

 

Can you imagine having to give up doing the thing you ❤️ most?

　 き
「決めた」
“He decided.”

There is no pronoun or name used in the sentence so I relied on the picture to give me context (and I would’ve read the article too if the photo didn’t help).

「やめることを決めた」
“He decided to stop.”

• You would never hear or see a sentence that starts with just こと, which is ‘thing’ as in ‘event’ or ‘act’.
• The particle を marks the noun that is being acted on by the subject/topic.
• Someone is doing something (the verb) to something (the noun).
• So, if we want use a verb on another verb, we have to turn that other verb into a noun.
• In this case, it becomes the ‘act of stopping’.

    はいゆう
「俳優をやめることを決めた」
“He decided to quit being an actor.”

  びょう  き
「病気で俳優をやめることを決めた」
“He decided to quit being an actor since he’s sick.”

• で means ‘and’ when used to connect two separate sentences where the last word of the first sentence is です.
• Sometimes those sentences don’t directly affect each other but if the first half is the reason for the second half then で acts like ‘because’, ‘since’ or ‘due to’ as it does in this sentence.

   むずか
「難しくなる病気で俳優をやめることを決めた」
“He decided to quit being an actor since it becomes difficult with the disease.”

• なる is ‘to become.’
• When attached to an い-adjective, the last い in the adjective changes to く. This means the original adjective is 難しい => ‘hard.’

    はな
「話すことが難しくなる病気で俳優をやめることを決めた」
“He decided to quit being an actor since the disease makes it difficult to talk.”

• が follows the subject.
• The が particle points out what is becoming difficult.

 

A step towards digital 📱? Japan is still mostly a 💸 society so it’ll be interesting to see how fast this transition will happen.

じっけん
実験
experiment

 り  よう
利用する実験
A use experiment

• Whenever you see a plain/casual/dictionary form of a verb in front of a noun, the verb or verb phrase modifies that noun. In other words, it’s giving more details!
• You can think of it as answering the question: what kind of experiment?

つう  か
通貨を利用する実験
Experiment where they utilize currency

• The particle を marks the noun that is being acted on by the subject/topic.
• Someone is doing something (the verb) to something (the noun).

デジタル通貨を利用する実験
Experiment where they utilize digital currency

わた
渡すためにデジタル通貨を利用する実験
Experiment utilizing digital currency in order to give

When ために follows a verb, it is saying “for doing ___” or “so that they will do _____”.

　かね
お金を渡すためにデジタル通貨を利用する実験
Experiment utilizing digital currency in order to give money

Words for things that deserve respect or have great importance are preceded by お when the word is of Japanese origin.

はや
早くお金を渡すためにデジタル通貨を利用する実験
Experiment utilizing digital currency in order to quickly give money

When an い-adjective is used as an adverb, the last い in the word becomes く.

 し  みん
市民に早くお金を渡すためにデジタル通貨を利用する実験
Experiment utilizing digital currency to quickly give citizens money

• The particle に stands for ‘in,’ ‘at,’ ‘on’ or ‘to.’
• In the context of this sentence, ‘to’ makes the most sense.

 

Drinking directly from the milk cartons . . . when did it change to straws? I don’t remember any school lunches where I drank milk with a straw.

 ふ
増える
It’s increasing

せいひん
製品が増える
The product is increasing

• Literally, ‘manufactured good’.
• が follows the subject.
• The が particle points out what is increasing.
• が is used with intransitive verbs (when you are talking about something happening to something), which would make this a passive sentence.

かみ
紙の製品が増える
Paper products are increasing

• The particle の here is used to tell us what kind of product.
• の goes between two nouns or between nouns and adjectives that are kind-of nouns.

パックなど紙の製品が増える
Paper products such as containers are increasing

• パック covers a large range of items so context is important.
• The particle など can only follow nouns.
• など is used when you’re providing an example from an item category, which can be left out.
• If it’s not left out, then there is a の between the example and the category (see rule in the previous section).
• Since there would be two の’s in a row though, the の I’m talking about has been left out for better sentence flow.

ぎゅうにゅう
  牛乳のパックなど紙の製品が増える
Paper products such as milk cartons are growing

• !!! So many の’s! Another reason the other one was left out.
• Are you seeing the nesting going on here?
• It makes more sense for ‘containers’ to be ‘cartons’ now with the new info.

 の
飲める牛乳のパックなど紙の製品が増える
There are more paper products such as milk cartons from which we can drink

• Whenever you see a plain/casual/dictionary form of a verb in front of a noun, the verb or verb phrase modifies that noun. In other words, it’s giving more details!
• You can think of it as answering the question: what kind of milk carton?
• We were losing the verb so I massaged and moved it.

なくても飲める牛乳のパックなど紙の製品が増える
There are more paper products such as milk cartons from which we can drink even without it

• The grammar point, verb て-form + も, means ‘even though/if’ verb.
• When used with the casual negative of a verb like in this sentence, the last い changes to く. (We’ve seen this rule apply in many different places; remember い-adjectives with なる?)
• The original verb conjugation is ない, the negative of ある, so ‘not be’ or ‘not have’.

ストローがなくても飲める牛乳のパックなど紙の製品が増える
More paper products such as milk cartons we can still drink from without straws

• が marks the subject.
• The が particle is always used with ある / ない when you want to talk about what is there or not there (or what you have or don’t have).

* I could translate this more directly as “Paper products such as milk cartons from which we can drink even without straws grow” but it’s awkward and stiff.

 

Commemorative coins are always cool. This caught my eye since I also learned some things I didn’t know about the Japanese coins during my research for 一口シリーズ　A Series of One Bites 2021.

つく
作る
they will make it

こう  か
硬貨を作る
They will make a coin

• Literally, ‘hard money’.
• The particle を marks the noun that is being acted on by the subject/topic.
• Someone is doing something (the verb) to something (the noun).

 き  ねん
記念の硬貨を作る
They will make a commemorative coin

• The particle の here is used to tell us what kind of coin.
• の goes between two nouns or between nouns and adjectives that are kind-of nouns.

ごじゅうねん
　50年　記念の硬貨を作る
It’s 50 years so they’re making a commemorative coin

• The space after 50年 separates the front half as the reason for the back half.
• Spaces in Japanese are often used for emphasis.
• In this sentence, で was replaced by the space.
• で means ‘and’ when used to connect two separate sentences where the last word is です.
• Sometimes those sentences don’t directly affect each other but if the first half is the reason for the second half then で acts like ‘because’, ‘since’ or ‘due to’ as it does in this sentence.

もど
戻ってから50年　記念の硬貨を作る
It’s 50 years after returning so they’re making a commemorative coin

• A verb in て-form followed immediately by から means that only after this happens/doing that verb, something else happens.
• In other words, the action before てから goes first.

にっぽん
日本に戻ってから50年　記念の硬貨を作る
It’s 50 years after returning to Japan so they’re making a commemorative coin

• にっぽん is the patriotic way to say the country’s name.
• The particle に stands for ‘in,’ ‘at,’ ‘on’ or ‘to.’
• In the context of this sentence, ‘to’ makes the most sense.

おきなわけん
沖縄県が日本に戻ってから50年　記念の硬貨を作る
50 years since Okinawa Prefecture returned to Japan, so they’re making a commemorative coin

 

I have no words for how disappointed I am in the Russian government. With everything that has happened to this world in the last two years, you would think . . . Anyway, I gave to UNICEF. Please help out if you’re in the position to do it.

ひゃくごじゅうまんにん
　　150万人になった
It became 1.5 million people

• 150万人 is in number+counter format. There are two counters: first is for 10,000 and second is for people.
• It’s uncommon to hear a number without a counter if you’re specifying a number of something.
• The verb なる, to become, is preceded by に when it follows a noun or な-adjective.
• The casual past tense form of なる is created by replacing る with った.

ひと
人が150万人になった
The number of people ended up being 1.5 million people

• 人stands for ‘person’.
• In Japanese, most words represent both singular and plural. So, context is super important.
• The が particle puts emphasis on the subject.
• It conveys that the number of people is extremely large or has grown (since last count).
• なる could then also mean “to increase” or “to expand” in the right context.

　　　　　   い じょう
人が150万人以上になった
The number of people grew to more than 1.5 million

 に
逃げた人が150万人以上になった
The number of people escaping is now more than 1.5 million

• The past tense plain/casual form of a verb in front of a noun gives more details about the noun!
• You’re answering the question: what kind of people?

くに
国に逃げた人が150万人以上になった
The number of people escaping to countries is now more than 1.5 million

• The particle に stands for ‘in,’ ‘at,’ ‘on’ or ‘to.’
• In the context of this sentence, ‘to’ makes the most sense.

ほかの国に逃げた人が150万人以上になった
More than 1.5 million have now escaped to other countries

• The particle の here is used to tell us what kind of countries.
• の goes between two nouns or between nouns and adjectives that are kind-of nouns.

ウクライナからほかの国に逃げた人が150万人以上になった
More than 1.5 million have now escaped to other countries from Ukraine

から ends the phrase. English prepositions are Japanese postpositions.

 

Japan’s 🍼 birth rate has been steadily declining for a while now. 📉

 こ
子ども
child

• This could also be interpreted as ‘children’. It’s hard to tell without context.
• In Japanese, most words represent both singular and plural. So, you’ve got to see the whole thing in order to know which it is.

 う
生まれた子ども
Child that was born

• Whenever you see the past tense plain/casual form of a verb in front of a noun, the verb or verb phrase modifies that noun. In other words, it’s giving more details!
• You can think of it as answering the question: what kind of child?

きょねん
去年生まれた子ども
Child born last year

• 去年 modifies the verb so it’s not followed by a particle.
• Generic times aren’t marked by particles either.

　　　　　　     はちじゅうよんまんにん
去年生まれた子どもは84万人
840,000 children were born last year

• The は particle highlights the children born last year as the topic of the sentence; they are what the rest of the sentence is about.
• Another way to think of it is “As for the children born last year, there are 840,000 of them.”
• 84万人 is in number+counter format. There are two counters: first is for 10,000 and second is for people.
• It’s uncommon to hear a number without a counter if you’re specifying a number of something.
• The verb comes from the implied copula です, which stands for ‘is/am/are’.
• We know this because です is always last in a sentence or clause.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　    すく
去年生まれた子どもは84万人　少なくなる
840,000 children were born last year: it’s become low

• なる is ‘to become.’
• When attached to an い-adjective, the last い in the adjective changes to く. This means the original adjective is 少ない => ‘few.’

去年生まれた子どもは84万人　いちばん少なくなる
840,000 children were born last year: it’s become the fewest ever

• いちばん literally means ‘number 1,’ which translates to ‘most’ or ‘est’.
• It amplifies the adjective without changing that adjective.

 

🚂 Japan’s trains are something else. Train service is incredible. Fairly smooth ride, some noise but not where you would need ear protection and always on time! ⌚

けいかく
計画
They have a plan

• You must be wondering where the verb is in the Japanese sentence and it’s actually 計画する. There are many nouns that become verbs when する is attached.
• It could also be read as 計画（が）ある, which places more emphasis on the noun than the action.

 ひがし に  ほん
JR東日本　計画
JR East Japan has a plan

• The space after JR東日本 separates it, defining it as the topic of the sentence; it’s what the rest of the sentence is about.
• It’s common to see a space or comma where the は particle would be.

　　　　  つか
JR東日本　使う計画
JR East Japan has a use plan

• Whenever you see a plain/casual/dictionary form of a verb in front of a noun, the verb or verb phrase modifies that noun. In other words, it’s giving more details!
• You can think of it as answering the question: what kind of plan?

　　　　　　   ねん
JR東日本　2030年から使う計画
JR East Japan has a use plan starting 2030

• 2030年 is in number+counter format. This counter is for years.
• It’s uncommon to hear a number without a counter if you’re specifying a number of something.
• から ends the phrase. English prepositions are Japanese postpositions.
• While から normally translates to “from,” it sounds a little awkward in English. We can say the same thing using “starting” in this case.
• You could also say “starting from the year 2030.” Depending on what you’re translating this gives a narrative quality to the wording.

　　　　  でんしゃ
JR東日本　電車を2030年から使う計画
JR East Japan plans to use (electric) trains starting 2030

• The particle を marks the noun that is being acted on by the subject/topic.
• Someone is doing something (the verb) to something (the noun).

　　　　  はし
JR東日本　走る電車を2030年から使う計画
JR East Japan plans to use trains that run starting 2030

• This sentence has two modifying phrases! One nested inside the other.
• 走る is describing 電車 since it is right in front of that noun.

　　　　  すい  そ
JR東日本　水素で走る電車を2030年から使う計画
JR East Japan plans to use trains that run on hydrogen starting 2030

で marks what is being used to do something (if the ‘what’ is a non-location noun).

 

They sell so many things in vending machines!! 🤣

できた
It was installed

• The meaning of できる changes based on the noun before it.
• In this case, it could mean “to build” or “to make” as well.

 じ  どうはんばい  き
自動販売機ができた
A vending machine was installed

• が follows the subject.
• The が particle points out what was installed.

 や　　  にく
焼き肉の自動販売機ができた
A grilled meat vending machine was installed

• The particle の here is used to tell us what kind of vending machine.
• の goes between two nouns.

なが  の  けん
長野県に焼き肉の自動販売機ができた
Grilled meat vending machine installed in Nagano Prefecture

• The particle に stands for ‘in,’ ‘at,’ ‘on’ or ‘to.’
• In the context of this sentence, ‘in’ makes the most sense.

　　　いい  だ   し
長野県飯田市に焼き肉の自動販売機ができた
Grilled meat vending machine installed in city of Iida, Nagano Prefecture

• Locations in Japan are often labeled with their classification. This is especially apparent when you look at the names of government organizations.
• 市 means ‘city.’ It could be left out of this translation so it says “in Iida, Nagano Prefecture.”
• Locations are always provided from largest area to smallest area (so, national to local).