(がっこう)

school

(うんどうかい)

sports day, athletic meet

(ひらく)

to open, to hold (event)

(あき)

autumn; fall

(にほん)

Japan

(はじまる)

to begin

(こども)

child

(そと)

outside

(すぽーつ)

sport

(する)

to do

(ひ)

day

(ことし)

this year

(たくさん)

a lot / many

(はしる)

to run

(だんす)

dance

(あかい)

red

(ちーむ)

team

(しろい)

white

(わかれる)

to be divided; to split

(みんな)

Everyone; everybody

(いっしょ)

Together; at the same time

(がんばる)

to do one's best

(おとうさん)

father

(おかあさん)

mother

(くる)

to come

(しゃしん)

photograph

(とる)

to take (a photo)

(おうえん)

cheering; support

(さいきん)

recently

(あつい)

hot

(おおい)

many

(それで)

and so, therefore

(あさ)

morning

(ふえる)

to increase; to grow

(ひるごはん)

lunch

(まえ)

before, previous

(おわる)

to end

Passive form

The passive voice. 落とされて is the passive of 落とす (to drop). Indicates the bombs were dropped (by someone).

to become

Expresses a change of state; Kawai became the new commissioner of the Sports Agency.

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.

plural suffix (for people)

Pluralizing suffix attached to nouns referring to people.

polite copula / is, am, are

Describes states such as the mother panda being healthy and the baby being small.

there was / there were (existence, past)

Used in the title and body to report that an earthquake occurred. ある becomes the past あった (plain) / ありました (polite).

doing things like ~ and ~

Lists representative actions among several. Implies there are other actions too. Used twice in this article.

polite non-past tense

The polite non-past ～ます states what will happen — the funeral will continue.

and (non-exhaustive list)

や lists representative examples — Shikoku and Kyushu among other regions (四国や九州).

te-form for connecting clauses

The te-form connects sequential actions or clauses. Here it links 'started' with the following action.

only ~

Limiter particle. 女性だけが宇宙船に乗りました means 'only women boarded the spaceship.'

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

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

学校で運動会が開かれる

Schools hold sports days

秋になって、日本の学校で運動会が始まりました。

Autumn has come, and sports days have begun at schools in Japan.

運動会は、子どもたちが外でいろいろなスポーツをする日です。

Sports day is a day when children play various sports outdoors.

今年も、たくさんの学校で運動会がありました。

This year too, many schools held sports days.

子どもたちは、走ったり、ダンスをしたりします。

The children do things like running and dancing.

赤いチームと白いチームに分かれて、みんなで一緒に頑張ります。

They split into a red team and a white team, and everyone does their best together.

お父さんやお母さんも学校に来て、写真を撮ったり、応援したりします。

Fathers and mothers also come to the school to take photos and cheer.

最近は、暑い日が多いです。

Recently, there have been many hot days.

それで、朝だけ運動会をする学校が増えています。

Because of that, more schools are holding sports day only in the morning.

昼ご飯の前に終わる学校もあります。

Some schools finish before lunch.