Breakdown of osen wo heraseba, tikyuu no kuuki ga kirei ni narimasu.
Questions & Answers about osen wo heraseba, tikyuu no kuuki ga kirei ni narimasu.
減らせば is the “ば” conditional form of the verb 減らす (to reduce). In Japanese, attaching ば to the verb stem expresses a general “if” or “when” — in other words, “if (we) reduce….” For う-verbs like 減らす, you change the -す to -せ and add ば:
・減らす → 減らせ + ば = 減らせば
Because 減らす is a transitive verb that needs a direct object. The particle を marks 汚染 (pollution) as the thing being reduced:
“if (we) reduce pollution…”
In the second clause, the verb is なる (“to become”), which is intransitive. The particle が marks the subject of an intransitive verb — here, 地球の空気 is what “becomes clean.” So:
“…then the earth’s air (subject, marked by が) becomes clean.”
きれい is a na-adjective. To use a na-adjective with なる (to become), you need its adverbial form, which takes に. So:
きれい (clean, na-adj.) → きれいに (cleanly/as clean)
＋ なる → きれいに なる (to become clean)
なります is simply the polite non-past form of なる (“to become”). Thus きれいに なります means “becomes clean” in polite speech.
In Japanese you can omit the subject when it’s clear or general. Here the idea is “if (we/people) reduce pollution” — a generic “you/we/people.” Omitting it makes the statement more universal.
Yes, 減らしたら is the たら conditional “if/when (we) reduce….”
Difference in nuance:
- ば (減らせば) tends to express a general rule or hypothetical.
- たら (減らしたら) often feels more concrete or tied to a specific situation/time.
In many cases they’re interchangeable, but ば here highlights a general cause-and-effect.
・汚染 — おせん (osen, “pollution”)
・地球 — ちきゅう (chikyū, “Earth”)
・空気 — くうき (kūki, “air”)