Translation guide
This guide covers how to express that something is reduced, decreased, or cut down in Japanese. It organizes expressions by the type of reduction: general decrease, price cuts, speed reduction, weight loss, and abstract reduction.
To say that something (amount, number, level, etc.) is reduced or decreases.
Intransitive verb meaning 'to decrease', 'to diminish'. Used for quantities, numbers, etc. Natural for everyday conversation.
The population is decreasing.
My savings have decreased.
Formal suru-verb meaning 'to decrease', 'to decline'. Common in news, reports, and formal contexts.
Sales decreased.
Formal term for reduction, often used in technical or business contexts (e.g., cost reduction).
Costs were reduced.
To say that a price is reduced or discounted.
Literally 'become cheap'. The most natural way to say a price has been reduced in casual speech.
This clothing got cheaper, didn't it?
Passive form of 'to lower the price'. Used when the price is reduced by someone (e.g., a store).
Means 'to be discounted'. Often used for percentage or fixed amount discounts.
To say that speed is reduced or slowed down.
To say that body weight is reduced.
To say that something intangible like stress, burden, or risk is reduced.
Many Japanese verbs have transitive/intransitive pairs. 'Be reduced' is intransitive (something reduces by itself or is in a reduced state). Do not confuse with transitive verbs like 減らす (to reduce something). For example, 'I reduced my expenses' is 支出を減らした, not 支出が減った.
Expenses decreased (intransitive).
I reduced expenses (transitive).
The rent will be reduced from next month.
All items are discounted by 20%.
彼はだいぶ痩せたね。
He's gotten quite thin, hasn't he?
My worries have decreased.