Translation guide
How to express that a disaster, disease, or event causes deaths or casualties.
The learner wants to say that something (e.g., an earthquake, a disease) has killed or injured people.
Most common and natural way to say 'claim victims' in news and formal contexts. Literally 'produce victims/sacrifices'.
The earthquake claimed many victims.
This infectious disease is claiming victims worldwide.
Focuses specifically on deaths, not injuries. Common in news reports.
The typhoon claimed many lives.
More emotional/literary expression meaning 'to take lives'. Used in speeches or dramatic contexts.
The war claimed many lives.
Intransitive version, often used when the agent is not specified or when focusing on the occurrence of victims.
The accident claimed victims.
Can mean victims in a broader sense (including injured or affected), but less common for deaths. Often used for crimes or accidents.
犠牲者 (victims/sacrifices) includes both dead and injured, while 死者 (the dead) only refers to fatalities. News often uses 犠牲者 when the exact number of dead vs injured is not yet clear, or to show empathy.
The earthquake victims exceeded 100.
The flood claimed hundreds of victims.
The incident claimed many victims.
死者は50人に上った。
The death toll rose to 50.
The English 'claim victims' cannot be directly translated word-for-word into Japanese. Phrases like 犠牲者を主張する or 犠牲者を要求する are incorrect. Use the patterns above.
その流行病はこれまでに千人以上の犠牲者を出している。
The epidemic has claimed over a thousand victims so far.