Translation guide
This guide covers how to express the idea of 'decreasing' in Japanese, including verbs for becoming smaller or fewer, adjectives for declining trends, and patterns for describing drops in amount, number, or intensity.
To say that something is getting smaller, fewer, or less in a general sense.
Intransitive verb meaning 'to decrease' or 'to diminish'. Used for countable things, amounts, or abstract quantities. Very common.
The population is decreasing.
My savings decreased.
Transitive verb meaning 'to reduce' or 'to decrease' something. Use when someone actively makes something smaller.
We need to reduce expenses.
Phrase meaning 'to become less' or 'to decrease'. Slightly more formal or descriptive than 減る.
Recently, rainy days have decreased.
Suru-verb meaning 'to decline' or 'to drop', often used for quality, ability, or numerical values. More formal.
The quality is decreasing.
To describe a downward trend in statistics, prices, or measurable values.
Intransitive verb meaning 'to go down' or 'to drop'. Used for prices, temperature, rankings, etc.
The temperature decreased.
Stock prices are decreasing.
Transitive verb meaning 'to lower' or 'to bring down'. Use when someone actively reduces something.
Formal suru-verb meaning 'to decrease' or 'to decline'. Common in news and reports.
Sales decreased.
To say that strength, power, or intensity is decreasing.
To express a slow, steady decline.
Grammar pattern meaning 'is gradually doing'. Attach to verb stem. Formal.
Demand is gradually decreasing.
Grammar pattern meaning 'continues to do' or 'keeps on doing', often with a negative nuance. Attach to dictionary form.
Prices just keep increasing. (Note: opposite meaning, but pattern is used for continuous change.)
値段を下げた。
They lowered the price.
My physical strength is decreasing.
My savings just keep decreasing.