Learn Hardcore Japanese: ima ha, seito zenin ga zyunban de souzi wo site ite, mukasi yori zutto byoudou ni natta to kanziru. - Now all the students take turns cleaning, and I feel it has become much more equal than before.

If you said just 今、生徒全員が…, it sounds more like a neutral “Right now, at this moment, all the students…”, focusing on the present time without that built-in contrast.

So 今は here hints at “now (as opposed to before)” and prepares you for the comparison with 昔より later in the sentence.

Why is it 生徒全員が and not 生徒全員は or 全員の生徒?

生徒全員が
- Literally “all the students (as the subject)”.
- が marks 誰が (who) is doing the action: all the students are the ones taking turns cleaning.
生徒全員は
- Could also be used, but は would make 生徒全員 the topic, often contrasting them with some other possible group (e.g. teachers, staff).
- Nuance: “As for all the students, they take turns cleaning…” (maybe implying someone else doesn’t).
全員の生徒
- Grammatically possible, literally “the students of everyone” / “every person’s students”, but it sounds unnatural in this context.
- 全員 is usually used like 全員が / 全員は rather than as 全員の + noun when you mean “everyone/all [people]”.

So 生徒全員が is the most natural way here to say “all the students are the ones who…”.

What does 順番で mean, and how is it different from 順番に?

Both relate to “in turn / in order / by turns”, but the nuance is slightly different:

順番で
- Focuses on the method or arrangement: “by (the system of) turns”.
- Think: They clean, using a turn-taking system.
順番に
- Adverb modifying the verb more directly: “do [it] in order / one after another / in turn”.
- Think: They clean in turn / one after another.

In this sentence:

生徒全員が順番で掃除をしていて
→ “All the students are cleaning by taking turns / on a rotating basis.”

You could also say 順番に掃除をしていて, and it would still make sense; the difference is subtle and both are acceptable.

Why is it 掃除をしていて and not 掃除しています?

していて is the て-form of している and is used to connect this clause to the next part of the sentence.

掃除をしていて、昔よりずっと平等になったと感じる。
- Literally: “(They) are doing the cleaning by turns, and (I) feel that it has become much more equal than before.”

Here’s what’s happening:

掃除をしている = “are doing cleaning” / “do the cleaning (habitually).”
掃除をしていて、…
- The て form works like “and” / “while” / “with that situation,” linking the first idea (students clean by turns) to the second idea (I feel it’s more equal now).

If you wrote 掃除をしています。昔よりずっと… you would have two separate sentences. That’s fine grammatically, but the original uses していて、 to keep everything as one flowing idea: “Since they are cleaning by turns, I feel it’s more equal now.”

Who is the subject of 感じる, and why is it not written?

The subject is “I” (the speaker), but in Japanese it’s very common to omit subjects when they are obvious from context.

…平等になったと感じる。
→ “(I) feel that it has become more equal.”

You could explicitly say:

…平等になったと 私は 感じる。
- This is grammatically correct but often sounds unnecessarily explicit in natural speech or writing when it’s clear who is speaking.

Japanese frequently drops 私 / 僕 / 俺 / you / they, etc., especially in first-person statements of feeling, thinking, or perceiving.

What is the role of と before 感じる?

Here, と is a quotation particle. It marks what is being felt or thought as a kind of “quoted content”:

平等になった = “(it) has become equal/fair”
平等になったと感じる = “feel that (it) has become equal/fair”

So pattern-wise:

[sentence in plain form] + と + 思う / 感じる / 言う / 気づく etc.

Examples:

今日は寒いと感じる。
= “I feel that it’s cold today.”
彼はもう来ないと思う。
= “I think he won’t come anymore.”

In your sentence, と introduces the content of the feeling.

Why is it 平等に and not 平等だ or 平等な?

平等 (びょうどう) is a な-adjective meaning “equal / fair.”

平等だ → predicate form: “is equal/fair.”
平等な + noun → “equal/fair + noun.”
平等に → adverbial form: “in an equal/fair way; equally.”

Here we have:

平等になった
- 平等に (adverbial form) + なる (“to become”) → “to become equal/fair.”

This is the standard pattern with なる:

静かになる (from 静かだ) → “to become quiet”
きれいになる (from きれいだ) → “to become beautiful/clean”
平等になる (from 平等だ) → “to become equal/fair”

So 平等に + なる is the correct natural combination.
平等だなった is ungrammatical, and 平等ななった is also wrong.

What does 昔よりずっと mean, and what nuance does ずっと add?

昔より
- Literally “than (in) the old days / than before.”
- It’s a comparative: comparing “now” to “the past.”
ずっと
- Adds the sense of “by far / much / a lot”.
- It emphasizes that the difference is big, not just a little.

So:

昔よりずっと平等になった
= “It has become much more equal than in the past.”
(Not just a small improvement, but a clear, significant one.)

Without ずっと, 昔より平等になった would be a more neutral “It has become more equal than before.”

Why is the sentence ending in non-past 感じる instead of past 感じた?

感じる (non-past/plain) here expresses a current, general feeling or opinion:

…と感じる。
→ “I feel (that) …” / “I find (that) …”

Using past 感じた would describe a specific past moment when you felt it:

…と感じた。
→ “I felt (at that time) that it had become more equal.”

In context, the speaker is likely giving their ongoing impression of the situation now, so non-past 感じる is natural:

“I feel it’s much fairer now than it used to be.” (general, present opinion)

What does 平等になった express exactly? Why なる?

なる means “to become / to turn into,” indicating change of state.

平等だ = “is equal/fair” (describes the current state)
平等になる = “become equal/fair” (describes a transition from unfair → fair)

So:

平等になった
- past form of 平等になる
- “(It) has become equal/fair” or “(It) became equal/fair.”

In the full sentence:

昔よりずっと平等になったと感じる
→ “I feel (that) it has become much more equal than in the past.”
→ Implying that in 昔, it was less fair, and over time it changed to be more fair.

How does the 、 after していて function? Is it like “and”?

Yes, in this case the 、 plus the て-form (していて、) is functioning very much like “and”, linking two related clauses:

生徒全員が順番で掃除をしていて、
→ “All the students clean by taking turns, and…”
昔よりずっと平等になったと感じる。
→ “…I feel it has become much more fair than in the past.”

The pattern is:

[Clause 1 in て-form]、[Clause 2].

It can express:

sequence (do A and then B),
cause/effect (because A, B),
or just a loose connection (A, and B).

Here it’s close to:
“Since all the students now take turns cleaning, I feel it’s become much more equal than before.”

Why is it 掃除をする (with を) instead of just 掃除する?

Both forms are correct:

掃除をする
掃除する

In modern Japanese, many する-verbs (noun + する) allow dropping を with no change in meaning:

勉強をする → 勉強する (study)
運動をする → 運動する (exercise)
掃除をする → 掃除する (clean)

In your sentence:

掃除をしていて
could also be 掃除していて and still be natural.

Using を can sound slightly more formal or careful, but the difference is small and both are widely used.