Difference between あまり多くない人 and 多くない人

[Treesgotowar]

Could you please explain how あまり changes the statement? Was trying to figure out how to say not many and google translate as あまり多くない.
I understand that あまり means not much when used with a negative, and 多い means many, just not why you would add あまり.

Sentence i was trying to translate シンシナティであまり多くない人はお好み焼きを知らない

Thanks,

 

[Majestic]

I think in this case you should think of あまり as a softener.
It isn't a one-for-one translation, but its kind of like "not many" vs. "not that many". The difference is in the nuance, but essentially the meaning is the same.

I think your translated sentence still needs a bit of work though. It is understandable, but the syntax is a bit garbled, and you've got a double negative in it, which is confusing.

 

[Treesgotowar]

I think in this case you should think of あまり as a softener.
It isn't a one-for-one translation, but its kind of like "not many" vs. "not that many". The difference is in the nuance, but essentially the meaning is the same.

I think your translated sentence still needs a bit of work though. It is understandable, but the syntax is a bit garbled, and you've got a double negative in it, which is confusing.

Thanks for clarification, could you provide a sentence that would sound more natural?

 

[Majestic]

There are a few ways to phrase it. I'm not a native speaker, so I don't know which is best (and there may be mistakes in these). Anyway, I'll give a few suggestions and let you fill in the blanks.

シンシナティでは、お好み焼きを知っている人は・・・
シンシナティの人々はあまりお好み焼き（のこと）を・・・
お好み焼きはシンシナティではあまり・・・

etc.

 

[mdchachi]

シンシナティであまり多くない人はお好み焼きを知らない

I'd probably say something like シンシナティではお好み焼きを知っている人が少ない

 

[Toritoribe]

シンシナティであまり多くない人はお好み焼きを知らない

あまり多くない人はお好み焼きを知らない
＝ 少ない/少しの人はお好み焼きを知らない
＝ 多くの人はお好み焼きを知っている
Many people know okonomiyaki.

Is this what you meant?

 

[Treesgotowar]

I see why the double negative is causing confusion. its a bad way to writing it and sounds weird even in English.
If i reverse to say most people dont know, i think it works better.
あまり多くない人はシンシナティではお好み焼きを知る

Also if you use では and は, does that count as 2 topics?

 

[Toritoribe]

I see why the double negative is causing confusion. its a bad way to writing it and sounds weird even in English.
If i reverse to say most people dont know, i think it works better.
あまり多くない人はシンシナティではお好み焼きを知る

Also if you use では and は, does that count as 2 topics?

As already pointed out, the following expressions are more common and natural.
シンシナティでは、お好み焼きを知っている人はあまり多くない。
シンシナティでは、お好み焼きを知っている人は少ない。
シンシナティでは、多くの人はお好み焼きをあまり知らない。
シンシナティでは、お好み焼きはあまり知られていない。


Actually, double negative is relatively commonly used in Japanese, at least more common than in English. For example, シンシナティでは、お好み焼きを知らない人は少なくない。 sounds very natural.


You need to use 知っている instead of 知る there. 知っている expresses the present state, not the present progressive tense(on-going action) since 知る is a punctual verb, not a durative verb.


As for the two は, please refer to the following threads.

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jref.com

What the は?

Hello, friends; I don't get it: わたしは借りたお金はすぐ返します。 This is a sentence from my Minna text. Are both はs topic markers??? How can this be? Please elucidate! ;)

jref.com

 

[Treesgotowar]

Thank you very much for time and answers.