(よる)

night

(おそい)

late; slow

(ひらく)

to open, to hold (event)

(としょかん)

library

(ふえる)

to increase; to grow

(まえ)

before, previous

(ごご)

afternoon

(しまる)

to close

(おおい)

many

(いま)

now

(かいしゃ)

company

(はたらく)

to work

(ひと)

person / people

(ひる)

noon / daytime

(いく)

to go

(しごと)

work, job

(ほん)

book

(かりる)

to borrow

(がくせい)

student

(がっこう)

school

(べんきょう)

study

(こども)

child

(いっしょ)

Together; at the same time

(くる)

to come

(おや)

parent

(しずか)

quiet

(はなす)

to speak, talk

(つかう)

to use

(ひつよう)

necessary / needed

(おかね)

money

(かかる)

to take (time/money), cost

(し)

city

(これから)

from now on

(つづける)

to continue

(いう)

to say

is doing, has been doing (ongoing state/action)

Expresses a continuing action or resulting state. Formed with て-form + いる/います. Can describe an action in progress or a state that continues from a past change.

past tense of an i-adjective (polite)

An i-adjective drops い and takes かったです to describe the past politely. 多かったです tells us that libraries closing at 5 p.m. used to be the common case.

can do ..., to be able to ...

Verb dictionary form + ことができる expresses ability or possibility. More formal than the potential verb form. Common in written Japanese and announcements.

if / when (natural consequence)

Conditional と indicating a natural or expected result. 一緒に捨てると…火が出て means 'if you throw them away together, fire starts.'

after (a noun)

A noun plus のあとで says that something happens after that event. The article uses it twice to show when people can finally visit: 仕事のあとで for workers and 学校のあとで for students.

can do (potential of する verbs)

A する-noun takes できます directly to express ability, a shorter alternative to ことができます. 勉強できます means students are able to study there.

did ... (polite past)

Polite past tense of verbs. Formed with verb stem + ました. Used in formal or polite speech to describe completed actions.

than / more than

Indicates comparison. Used to say prices rose on average 2.8% compared to last year.

to become (い-adjective)

Expresses a change of state for い-adjectives. Drop the final い and add くなる. Indicates something has changed or will change to a new state.

because / therefore

から after a polite form gives the reason for the following statement. 必要ですから explains why running the extra hours costs money.

want to ~

Verb stem + たい expresses desire.

夜おそくまで開く図書館が増える

More libraries are staying open until late at night

夜おそくまで開く図書館が増えています。

The number of libraries that stay open until late at night is increasing.

前は午後五時に閉まる図書館が多かったです。

In the past, there were many libraries that closed at 5 p.m.

今は午後九時まで開く図書館があります。

Now there are libraries that stay open until 9 p.m.

会社で働く人は、昼に図書館へ行くことができません。

People who work at a company cannot go to the library during the day.

夜まで開いていると、仕事のあとで本を借りることができます。

When the libraries are open until night, people can borrow books after work.

学生も学校のあとで勉強できます。

Students can also study there after school.

子どもと一緒に来る親もいます。

There are also parents who come together with their children.

図書館の人は「夜は静かで、勉強する人が多いです」と話しました。

A person from the library said, "At night it is quiet, and many people study here."

図書館を使う人は前より多くなりました。

The number of people who use the library has become larger than before.

夜に働く人が必要ですから、お金がかかります。

Because staff who work at night are needed, it costs money.

でも、市の人は「これからも続けたいです」と言っています。

But a city official says, "We want to keep doing this from now on."