ぱらぱら
Meanings
adverb, adverb taking the 'to' particle
sprinkling; pattering
Describes light, scattered drops of rain, salt, or similar small particles falling or being sprinkled.
Rain started to fall in light drops.
Sprinkle salt lightly over the dish.
adverb, adverb taking the 'to' particle
flipping through; riffling
Used for the sound or action of quickly flipping through pages of a book, magazine, or similar items.
He flipped through the magazine.
noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no', na-adjective, adverb, adverb taking the 'to' particle
Describes things that are few and far between, appearing here and there rather than densely or continuously.
Only a few houses are scattered around here.
The audience was sparse.
noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no', na-adjective, adverb, adverb taking the 'to' particle
Describes a dry, crumbly, or non-sticky texture, often used for food like overcooked rice, crumbly tofu, or loose grains.
This rice is nicely fluffy and not sticky.
Fry until the cheese becomes crumbly.
Usage patterns
- 〈物〉がぱらぱらと降るfor something like rain to fall in light, scattered drops
It started to rain in scattered drops.
- 〈物〉をぱらぱらとめくるto quickly flip through the pages of something
I flipped through the magazine.
- 〈人〉がぱらぱらといるfor people to be present here and there, sparsely
There were only a few scattered spectators.
- 〈物〉がぱらぱらになるfor food (like rice) to become crumbly or loose
The rice got overcooked and became crumbly.