にしたがってAs one development progresses
Links two developing situations: as A advances through time, stages, distance, or degree, B changes along with it. It is especially common in reports and analytical writing.
One development tracks another
Think of A as providing a moving scale. As A passes through successive stages, B also changes stage by stage. The construction does not merely mean that B happened later, and it does not necessarily claim that A directly caused B.
Verb and noun patterns
In both examples, the second development tracks the first over time rather than occurring only once.
The compressed variant
調査地点が河口に近づくにしたがい、水中の塩分濃度は高くなった。
As the survey points approached the river mouth, the salt concentration in the water increased.
AnalyzeThis compact form suits the analytical style of the sentence.
Not every occurrence expresses change
When に従って means following an instruction, rule, guide, or person, it is not the correlated-change use taught here. That meaning resembles に沿って, which describes acting according to a route, policy, or standard rather than two developments changing together.
係員の指示に従って、指定された席に移動してください。
Please follow the staff member's instructions and move to the designated seat.
AnalyzeNonexample for this page: this means obeying an instruction, not tracking a progressive change.
More examples
標高が高くなるにしたがって、平均気温は低下する。
As elevation increases, the average temperature decreases.
Analyzeデジタル化の進展にしたがい、紙の申請書は減少している。
As digitalization advances, the number of paper application forms is decreasing.
Analyze台風が接近するにしたがって、沿岸部の風も強まった。
As the typhoon approached, winds in coastal areas also grew stronger.
Analyze研究が進むにしたがって、当初の仮説の問題点が明らかになった。
As the research progressed, problems with the original hypothesis became clear.
Analyze利用者数の増加にしたがって、サーバーへの負荷も大きくなった。
As the number of users increased, the load on the server also grew.
Analyze市場が拡大するにしたがい、参加企業の業種も多様になった。
As the market expanded, the range of industries represented by participating companies also became more diverse.
Analyze