Learn Hardcore Japanese: ooku no syakaizin ha, sigoto dake de naku kazoku to no zikan mo taisetu ni site ite, watasi ha sore ga suteki da to omou. - Many working adults value not only work but also time with their families, and I think that’s wonderful.

多く is a noun-like form of the adjective 多い (“many/much”), and when used in this way it almost always appears as 多くの + noun in written or somewhat formal Japanese.

Differences:

多くの社会人
- Sounds a bit more formal or written.
- Common in essays, news, reports, textbooks.
多い社会人
- Grammatically possible, but less natural here.
- 多い as an adjective is more often used in patterns like
  - 社会人が多い (“there are many working adults”)
    than in 多い社会人は….
たくさんの社会人
- Also correct, but たくさん tends to be more casual/conversational.
- In writing, 多くの is preferred.

So 多くの社会人は… is a natural, slightly formal way to say “Many working adults…”

What exactly does 社会人 mean? How is it different from 大人 or 会社員?

社会人 literally means “a person in society,” and in practice it means:

An adult who is out of school and working (a member of the workforce).

Typical contrasts:

学生 vs 社会人
- 学生 = student
- 社会人 = someone who has finished school and joined the working world
社会人 vs 大人
- 大人 = an adult (by age/maturity), regardless of job or whether they are still a student.
- 社会人 = specifically an adult worker living as a member of society (not a full‑time student).
社会人 vs 会社員
- 会社員 = company employee (someone who works for a company).
- 社会人 = broader; includes self‑employed people, civil servants, freelancers, etc.

In this sentence, 社会人 focuses on “working adults” in general, not just “adults” or “company employees.”

Why does the sentence use は after 社会人 (多くの社会人は)? Could we use が instead?

は marks the topic of the sentence: what we are talking about.

多くの社会人は…
= “As for many working adults, … / Many working adults (for their part) …”

Using が here (多くの社会人が…) would be grammatically possible, but the nuance changes:

多くの社会人は…
- Sets “many working adults” as the general topic.
- The rest of the sentence is information about this group.
多くの社会人が…
- Emphasizes “many working adults” as the subject in contrast to some other possible subject.
- Sounds more like you’re specifically pointing them out.

For a general statement like this, は as a topic marker is the most natural choice.

How does the pattern AだけでなくBも work? What does 仕事だけでなく家族との時間も literally mean?

The pattern:

AだけでなくBも = “not only A but also B”

Breakdown:

Aだけ = only A
〜でなく (or 〜ではなく) = not ~
Bも = B too / also

So:

仕事だけでなく家族との時間も
= “not only (their) work but also time with (their) family”

Putting it into the sentence:

仕事だけでなく家族との時間も大切にしていて
= “they value not only their work but also time with their family”

This structure is very common:

日本語だけでなく英語も勉強しています。
= I study not only Japanese but also English.

Where does the で in だけでなく come from? Why isn’t it just だけなく?

The で in だけでなく is actually the て‑form of the copula だ.

The full, slightly more formal form is:

AだけではなくBも

Breaking that down:

Aだけだ = “it is only A”
Aだけではない = “it is not only A”
- だ → で (て‑form of だ)
- で
  - は
    - ない

When making this a connector, AだけではなくBも, the は is often dropped in speech and writing:

AだけではなくBも → AだけでなくBも

So だけでなく is really a contracted form of だけではなく, and で is the て‑form of だ.

Why is it 家族との時間 and not 家族の時間? What does と do here?

家族の時間 literally = “family’s time.”
This can mean “the family’s time” (time that belongs to the family) or “family time” in general, but it doesn’t explicitly say you are with them.
家族との時間 literally = “time with (one’s) family.”
Here:
- 家族と = with (one’s) family
- 〜との時間 = time with ~

In Japanese:

AとB often means “A and B together” or “B with A.”
- 友だちと話す = talk with a friend
- 家族と住む = live with one’s family

So 家族との時間 very clearly expresses the idea of “time spent together with one’s family,” which is why it’s used here.

What does 大切にする mean literally? Why is there a に after 大切?

大切にする is a set expression meaning:

“to value / to cherish / to treat as important”

Literal structure:

大切 = important, precious (a na‑adjective)
〜にする = to make something into ~ / to treat something as ~

So:

大切にする = to treat (something) as important
時間を大切にする = to value time, to treat time as important
健康を大切にしてください。 = Please take good care of your health.

The に marks the “state” you are treating the object as. So it’s literally “to do (something) in the state of ‘important’” → “to treat as important.”

What is the function of していて in 大切にしていて? Why not just 大切にして?

していて is the て‑form of している:

大切にしている = “(they) value / are valuing / habitually value”

There are two points:

〜している
- Often expresses a continuing state or habit:
  - 仕事をしている = (I) work / I am working (as my job)
  - 日本語を勉強している = I study Japanese (regularly)
So 大切にしている means “they make a habit of valuing it,” not just a one‑time action.
〜ていて at the end of a clause
- The て at the end (していて、) connects this clause to the next part of the sentence:
  - 大切にしていて、私はそれが素敵だと思う
    = “they value it …, and I think that is wonderful.”

You could technically say 大切にして、 but 大切にしていて、 emphasizes that it’s an ongoing way of living, not just something they do once in a while.

In 私はそれが素敵だと思う, what does それ refer to?

それ is a pronoun that refers back to the whole situation just described:

Many working adults value not only their work but also time with their family.

So それ = “that (way of living / that attitude / that situation).”

English would usually say:

“I think that is wonderful.”
where “that” refers to the idea of valuing both work and family time.

In Japanese, it’s very common to use それ (or sometimes そういうところ / そういうところが, etc.) to point to the content of the previous clause or sentence.

Why is it それが素敵だ and not それは素敵だ? What nuance does が have here?

Both それが素敵だ and それは素敵だ are possible, but they have different nuances.

それが素敵だ
- が here marks what is being judged as “wonderful.”
- Nuance: “That is what is wonderful” / “What is wonderful is that.”
- It focuses on that particular thing as the object of the speaker’s evaluation.
それは素敵だ
- は would treat それ as a topic: “As for that, it’s wonderful.”
- Slightly more neutral; less of a sense of “this is the very thing I find wonderful.”

In the pattern 〜が素敵だと思う, using が is very natural, because が pairs closely with adjectives of evaluation (いい, 好き, 素敵だ, etc.):

この歌が好きだ = I like this song.
あの考え方がいいと思う = I think that way of thinking is good.

So それが素敵だと思う sounds very natural as “That is what I find wonderful.”

Why do we need だ before と思う in 素敵だと思う? Can we say 素敵と思う?

For na‑adjectives like 素敵 and for nouns, when you use them before と思う, you normally keep the copula だ:

素敵だと思う = I think (it) is wonderful.
便利だと思う = I think (it) is convenient.
学生だと思う = I think (he/she) is a student.

Compare with i‑adjectives, which do not need だ:

高いと思う (not 高いだと思う)
おいしいと思う

You may sometimes hear 素敵と思う in very casual speech, but it’s less standard and can sound a bit rough or clipped. 素敵だと思う is the natural, correct form in most contexts, especially in writing or neutral speech.

Why is 思う in plain form (思う) and not polite (思います) even though the sentence feels kind of polite/formal?

The whole sentence is in plain style (dictionary form):

大切にしていて (plain, not 大切にしています)
素敵だ (plain, not 素敵です)
思う (plain, not 思います)

In Japanese, you usually keep the same politeness level within one sentence (and often within the whole paragraph). Since the sentence uses だ and plain forms, 思う is also plain to match.

If you wanted to make it polite, you would switch the relevant parts:

多くの社会人は、仕事だけでなく家族との時間も大切にしていて、私はそれが素敵だと思います。
- Still acceptable (mixed plain だ inside the 思う‑clause + polite 思います).

Or fully polite:

多くの社会人は、仕事だけでなく家族との時間も大切にしていて、私はそれが素敵だと思います。
(This is actually the normal polite version; 素敵だと思います is fine.)

In casual writing or when expressing one’s own thoughts in an essay, plain style (思う) is very common and natural.