(いんばぬま)

Lake Inba (Inba-numa, a lake in Chiba)

(こめ)

Rice (uncooked)

(わるい)

bad

(みずくさ)

water plant, aquatic weed

(ひろがる)

to spread

(ちばけん)

Chiba Prefecture

(がいこく)

foreign country

(くる)

to come

(ふえる)

to increase; to grow

(とても)

very; extremely

(はやい)

early / fast

(おおきい)

big; large

(そして)

and; and then

(みず)

water

(うえ)

top, above

(おおう)

to cover

(ちかく)

nearby

(たんぼ)

rice paddy / rice field

(つかう)

to use

(いっしょに)

together

(はいる)

to enter, be contained in

(いね)

rice plant, paddy

(そだつ)

to grow up / to be raised

(すこし)

a little

(とれる)

to be harvested

(けん)

prefecture

(まち)

town

(とる)

to take

(さぎょう)

work, operation

(つづける)

to continue

(しかし)

however, but

(ちいさい)

small

(きれる)

to be cut, to break apart

(また)

again

(ぜんぶ)

All; everything; entirely

(なくす)

to eliminate, remove

(むずかしい)

difficult

(みつける)

to find; to discover

(しらせる)

to inform / notify

(はなす)

to speak, talk

might, maybe, possibly

Expresses possibility or uncertainty. Attached directly to the plain form of verbs, adjectives, or nouns. Less certain than でしょう.

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.

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.

in a way that ~, as if to ~

水の上をおおうように広がります describes how the weed spreads: in a way that covers the water surface.

passive form

The passive marks the subject as the one affected. 頭を打たれる means having your head struck by something.

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.'

hard to ~; difficult to ~

Attached to a verb stem to describe difficulty — 'people who have difficulty hearing'.

only ~ (negative emphasis)

Means 'only' with a negative verb, emphasizing how few/little. ヒットを3本しか打つことができませんでした means 'could only hit 3 hits'.

to become no longer / to disappear

Indicates a change where something ceases to exist or can no longer be done. Here it describes that prayer gatherings can no longer be held in Hong Kong.

even if; even though

Used to express concession or hypothetical situation.

therefore; for that reason

Connects cause and result — because of more investors and profits, more people buy stocks.

The one that ~; what ~ is

Nominalizer の followed by the topic marker は, used to turn a clause into a noun phrase that serves as the topic of the sentence.

if ..., when ...

Conditional form indicating 'if' or 'when' something happens. Formed by adding ら to the た-form of a verb. Expresses a hypothetical or temporal condition.

want (someone) to do ...

Expresses a wish for someone else to do something. Formed with て-form + ほしい. The person you want to act is marked with に.

印旛沼　米に悪い水草が広がるかもしれない

Lake Inba: a water weed harmful to rice may spread

千葉県の印旛沼で、外国から来た水草が増えています。

At Lake Inba in Chiba Prefecture, a water weed that came from abroad is increasing.

この水草は、とても早く大きくなります。

This weed grows big very quickly.

そして、水の上をおおうように広がります。

And it spreads as if to cover the surface of the water.

印旛沼の水は、近くの田んぼで使われています。

Water from Lake Inba is used in nearby rice paddies.

水草が水といっしょに田んぼに入ると、稲が育ちにくくなります。

When the weed gets into the paddies along with the water, the rice plants have a hard time growing.

米が少ししかとれなくなるかもしれません。

Only a little rice might be harvested.

県や町は、水草を取る作業を続けています。

The prefecture and towns are continuing the work of removing the weed.

しかし、この水草は小さく切れても、また育ちます。

However, even if this weed is cut into small pieces, it grows again.

そのため、全部なくすのはむずかしいです。

Because of that, getting rid of all of it is difficult.

県は、水草を見つけたら知らせてほしいと話しています。

The prefecture says it wants people to let it know if they find the weed.