Translation guide
The English word 'swarm' describes a large group of insects or other small creatures moving together, or a crowd of people moving in a similar way. In Japanese, different words are used depending on what is swarming and how they move.
Describe a large number of insects, birds, or small animals moving together in a dense group.
General word for a group of animals, including swarms of insects. Can be used for flocks, herds, etc. When used for insects, it implies a moving mass.
ハチの群れが飛んできた。
A swarm of bees came flying.
イナゴの群れが作物を食べ尽くした。
A swarm of locusts devoured the crops.
Emphasizes a very large swarm or crowd. Often used for insects, birds, or people.
蚊の大群が襲ってきた。
A huge swarm of mosquitoes attacked.
Verb meaning 'to swarm' or 'to crowd around'. Used for insects, animals, or people gathering in a swarm.
アリが砂糖に群がっている。
Ants are swarming over the sugar.
子供たちがアイスクリーム屋に群がった。
Children swarmed around the ice cream shop.
Literary phrase meaning 'like clouds and haze', used to describe a vast, dense swarm. Very dramatic.
敵軍が雲霞のごとく押し寄せた。
The enemy army swarmed like clouds and haze.
Describe a large number of people moving in a dense, often chaotic group.
A crowd or throng of people. Often implies a dense, moving mass.
群衆が広場に押し寄せた。
A swarm of people surged into the square.
A crowd of people gathered around something. Focuses on the gathering rather than movement.
Verb meaning 'to rush' or 'to flood in'. Used when people swarm to a place or for something.
新製品に注文が殺到した。
Orders swarmed in for the new product.
ファンが会場に殺到した。
Fans swarmed to the venue.
Express that a place is filled with a large, moving number of items or abstract things.
Means 'to overflow' or 'to be flooded with'. Can be used figuratively for a swarm of things.
街は観光客で溢れていた。
The streets were swarming with tourists.
Onomatopoeic adverb describing a teeming, swarming mass of small creatures or people. Casual.
ゴキブリがうじゃうじゃいる。
There are cockroaches swarming everywhere.
群れ (mure) is a general term for a group of animals, including insects. 大群 (taigun) emphasizes a very large swarm. 群衆 (gunshū) is specifically for crowds of people.
English 'swarm' as a verb is often translated with 群がる (muragaru) or 殺到する (sattō suru), not a direct equivalent of 'swarm'. Using 群れ as a verb is incorrect.
事故現場に人だかりができていた。
A crowd of people swarmed around the accident scene.