Japan’s πΌ birth rate has been steadily declining for a while now. π
γ
εγ©γ
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.
γ
ηγΎγγεγ©γ
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, itβs giving more details!
- You can think of it as answering the question: what kind of child?
γγγγ
ε»εΉ΄ηγΎγγεγ©γ
Child born last year
- ε»εΉ΄ modifies the verb so it’s not followed by a particle.
- Generic times aren’t marked by particles either.
γγγγγγ γ―γ‘γγ
γγγγΎγγ«γ
ε»εΉ΄ηγΎγγεγ©γγ―84δΈδΊΊ
840,000 children were born last year
- The γ― 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 βAs for the children born last year, there are 840,000 of them.β
- 84δΈδΊΊ is in number+counter format. There are two counters: first is for 10,000 and second is for people.
- Itβs uncommon to hear a number without a counter if youβre specifying a number of something.
- The verb comes from the implied copula γ§γ, which stands for ‘is/am/are’.
- We know this because γ§γ is always last in a sentence or clause.
γγγγγγγγγγγγγ γγ
ε»εΉ΄ηγΎγγεγ©γγ―84δΈδΊΊγε°γͺγγͺγ
840,000 children were born last year: it’s become low
- γͺγ is ‘to become.’
- When attached to an γ-adjective, the last γ in the adjective changes to γ. This means the original adjective is ε°γͺγ => ‘few.’
ε»εΉ΄ηγΎγγεγ©γγ―84δΈδΊΊγγγ‘γ°γε°γͺγγͺγ
840,000 children were born last year: it’s become the fewest ever
- γγ‘γ°γ literally means ‘number 1,’ which translates to ‘most’ or ‘est’.
- It amplifies the adjective without changing that adjective.