Learn Hardcore Japanese: kodomo no koro yonda syousetu wo yomikaesu to, mukasi ha souzou dekinakatta kanzyou ga wakaru you ni natte ite, sukosi otona ni natta ki ga simasu. - When I reread novels I read as a child, I feel a bit more grown-up, because I can now understand emotions I couldn’t imagine before.

子供のころ
- Slightly softer / more nostalgic.
- Often used when looking back emotionally on that period of life.
- ころ tends to mean a somewhat vague period (around that time).
子供の時
- A bit more neutral and straightforward.
- 時 can feel a little more “factual” than ころ, though the difference is small.

In this sentence, 子供のころ matches the reflective, nostalgic tone of rereading childhood novels and noticing emotional growth.

Why is there a の in 子供のころ? Can you say 子供ころ?

You need the の. The pattern is:

Noun + の + ころ
- 子供のころ – when (I was) a child
- 学生のころ – when (I was) a student
- 若いころ – when (I was) young (adjective in its noun-like form)

ころ here behaves like a noun meaning “time/period around...”, and の links the preceding word to it.
✗ 子供ころ is ungrammatical.

In 子供のころ読んだ小説を読み返すと, why is 読んだ (past form) used before 小説?

This is a relative clause: 読んだ小説 = the novels (I) read.

読んだ小説
- literally “novels that (I) read”
- 読んだ is past tense because the reading happened in the past (when I was a child).

Compare:

読んだ小説を読み返す – I reread novels that I previously read.
読む小説を読み返す – would sound odd; “I reread novels that I read (habitually / now)” → doesn’t match the intended meaning of going back to childhood books.

So the past form 読んだ correctly marks this as novels I (already) read (when I was a child).

What exactly does 読み返す mean? How is it different from just 読む?

読み返す is a compound verb:

読む – to read
返す – to return / to do something back / again

Together: 読み返す means to read something again, to reread.

Nuance:

小説を読む – to read a novel (no implication about whether it’s the first time).
小説を読み返す – specifically to go back and read it again, often to re-experience or re-evaluate it.

In the sentence, 読み返す emphasizes revisiting childhood novels with a more mature perspective.

What does the と in 読み返すと mean? Is it “and”, “when”, or “if”?

This と is the conditional と, often translated as “when” or “whenever”.

Pattern: Verb (dictionary form) + と + result
- 春になると、暖かくなります。 – When spring comes, it gets warm.
- ボタンを押すと、ドアが開きます。 – If/when you press the button, the door opens.

So:

子供のころ読んだ小説を読み返すと、…
→ When I reread the novels I read as a child, ...
It suggests a natural, predictable result that happens whenever you do that action.

Why does it say 昔は if we already have 子供のころ? Aren’t they both “in the past”?

They refer to different time frames and play different roles.

子供のころ: sets the time of the original reading (when I first read the novels).
昔は: sets the time for when those feelings were not yet understandable.

In context:

子供のころ読んだ小説 – novels I read when I was a child.
昔は想像できなかった感情 – feelings I couldn’t imagine before / in the past (relative to now).

Also, the は in 昔は makes 昔 the topic:
“As for the past, (I) couldn’t imagine those feelings.”

So it’s not redundant: 子供のころ is about when the novels were read; 昔は contrasts past-you with present-you.

How does 想像できなかった work grammatically? Why not just 想像しなかった?

想像できなかった is:

想像できる – to be able to imagine
想像できなかった – was not able to imagine / couldn’t imagine

So 昔は想像できなかった感情 = feelings I couldn’t imagine in the past.

If you said:

昔は想像しなかった感情
→ “feelings I didn’t imagine in the past”

That sounds more like you simply didn’t happen to imagine them (maybe by choice or circumstance), not that you were incapable of understanding them.
想像できなかった emphasizes lack of capacity / maturity, which fits the idea of growing up and now understanding more complex emotions.

Why is it 感情が分かる and not 感情を分かる?

With 分かる, the thing that is understood normally takes が, not を:

日本語が分かる。 – I understand Japanese.
気持ちが分かる。 – I understand (someone’s) feelings.
理由が分かった。 – I understood the reason.

So:

感情が分かる – I understand the feelings.

Using 感情を分かる is generally considered unnatural in standard Japanese.
The pattern is: X が分かる = “X is understandable / I understand X.”

What does 〜ようになる mean in 分かるようになっていて?

V-plain + ようになる means “to come to be able to do V” / “to reach a state where V happens / becomes possible.”

日本語が話せるようになりました。
– I’ve become able to speak Japanese.
早く起きるようになった。
– I’ve gotten into the habit of waking up early.

So:

感情が分かるようになる
– to become able to understand those feelings.

This expresses a change over time:
Before: couldn’t understand those feelings.
Now: has reached a point where they can be understood.

Why is it 分かるようになっていて and not just 分かるようになった?

なっていて is ている attached to なる:

分かるようになった
- Focuses on the moment of change: “I came to be able to understand (at some point).”
分かるようになっている
- Emphasizes the resulting state that now continues:
  “I am (now) in a state where I can understand (those feelings).”

In the sentence:

…感情が分かるようになっていて、少し大人になった気がします。

The 〜なっていて smoothly connects the idea of now being in that changed state to the feeling of having become more of an adult. It highlights the current, ongoing result of the change rather than the moment it happened.

Why is there a に in 大人になった? What does it do?

This is the pattern Noun + に + なる = to become (that noun).

先生になる – to become a teacher
有名人になる – to become famous
大人になる – to become an adult / grow up

So 大人になった = (I) have become an adult / grown up (at least to some degree).
The に marks the resulting state you change into.

What nuance does 少し add in 少し大人になった気がします?

少し means a little / somewhat, and here it softens the statement:

大人になった気がします。
– I feel like I’ve become an adult. (can sound a bit strong or absolute)
少し大人になった気がします。
– I feel like I’ve become a little more of an adult.

It expresses modesty and gradual change: not “I’m fully an adult now,” but “I feel like I’ve grown up a bit.”
You could also say ちょっと in casual speech with a similar nuance.

What does 気がします mean here? How is it different from と思います?

気がします literally is “a feeling arises,” so it means “I feel (that) …” with a soft, subjective nuance.

〜と思います – “I think that …” (more cognitive, sometimes a bit more assertive).
〜気がします – “I feel like …” (more about vague impression, intuition, or mood).

So:

少し大人になったと思います。
– I think I’ve become a little more of an adult. (more matter-of-fact)
少し大人になった気がします。
– I feel like I’ve become a little more of an adult. (gentler, introspective, less forceful)

In reflective or emotional contexts (like this sentence), 気がします is very natural.

Who is the subject in this sentence? There is no 私—how do we know it’s “I”?

Japanese often omits the subject when it’s clear from context.

In this sentence:

子供のころ読んだ小説を読み返すと
– “When (I) reread the novels (I) read as a child…”
昔は想像できなかった感情が分かるようになっていて
– “(I) have come to understand feelings (I) couldn’t imagine in the past…”
少し大人になった気がします。
– “(I) feel like (I’ve) become a little more of an adult.”

All actions naturally point to the speaker: rereading childhood novels, changing understanding, feeling more grown up. So 私 is simply omitted as understood context.

You could explicitly say 私は at the beginning, but it’s unnecessary and would sound heavier: the natural Japanese style is to leave it out here.

Can you break down the overall structure of the sentence?

Yes, schematically:

子供のころ読んだ小説を読み返すと、
- When I reread the novels I read when I was a child,
昔は想像できなかった感情が分かるようになっていて、
- I’ve come to be able to understand feelings I couldn’t imagine before, and (I’m in that state now),
少し大人になった気がします。
- and I feel like I’ve become a little more of an adult.

The logical flow is:

Condition (when I reread those childhood novels) →
Resulting inner change (now I can understand those once unimaginable feelings) →
Subjective conclusion (so I feel I’ve grown up a bit).