Difference between あまり多くない人 and 多くない人

Treesgotowar · 7 Jan 2024

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 · 7 Jan 2024

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 · 7 Jan 2024

Majestic said:
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 · 7 Jan 2024

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 · 7 Jan 2024

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 · 8 Jan 2024

Treesgotowar said:
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 · 8 Jan 2024

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 · 8 Jan 2024

Treesgotowar said:
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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Treesgotowar · 8 Jan 2024

Thank you very much for time and answers.

Difference between あまり多くない人 and 多くない人

Treesgotowar

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Majestic

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Treesgotowar

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Majestic

先輩

mdchachi

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Toritoribe

松葉解禁

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Toritoribe

松葉解禁

この机は私にはちょっと低い。 Help, please.

What the は?

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