Breakdown of saikin ha suimin no situ wo ageru apuri toka hon toka ga takusan dete imasu.
Questions & Answers about saikin ha suimin no situ wo ageru apuri toka hon toka ga takusan dete imasu.
最近は uses は to mark 最近 as the topic of the sentence.
- 最近 = recently / these days
- 最近は = As for recently / These days, …
So the sentence is really:
最近は, (そういうものが) たくさん出ています。
As for recently, (those kinds of things) are coming out a lot.
Without は, just 最近, it would feel more like a plain adverb, “recently”:
- 最近たくさん出ています。
→ “Recently, a lot [of them] have come out.”
Both are grammatical. 最近は adds the feeling of “talking about the general situation these days,” setting up a broader, ongoing trend, not just “recently, at some point.”
の here is a possessive/attributive marker, similar to English "’s" or "of".
- 睡眠（すいみん） = sleep
- 質（しつ） = quality
- 睡眠の質 = the quality of (one’s) sleep / sleep quality
So X の Y often maps to “Y of X” or “X’s Y” in English.
上げる is a transitive verb here: “to raise / improve (something).”
- 睡眠の質 = sleep quality
- 睡眠の質を上げる
- を marks 睡眠の質 as the direct object.
- Literally: “to raise the quality of sleep.”
Compare:
- 質が上がる = the quality goes up (intransitive)
- 質を上げる = (someone) raises/improves the quality (transitive)
In your sentence, apps/books are things that improve sleep quality, so the transitive 質を上げる is used.
In Japanese, a verb phrase can directly modify a noun, and it comes before the noun it describes. This is how relative clauses are formed.
- 睡眠の質を上げるアプリ
- literally: “sleep-quality-ACC-raise app”
- natural English: “apps that improve sleep quality” or “apps to improve sleep quality”
The same 睡眠の質を上げる applies to 本 as well:
- 睡眠の質を上げるアプリとか本とか
→ “apps and books that improve sleep quality”
So:
[睡眠の質を上げる] アプリ
[睡眠の質を上げる] 本
The entire clause 睡眠の質を上げる functions like an adjective attaching to the nouns.
とか after nouns is a listing particle, similar to “~ and stuff like ~ / ~ and ~ and so on.”
In the sentence:
- アプリとか本とか
= “apps, books, and (other similar things)”
→ adds a soft, non-exhaustive feel: “things like apps and books.”
Comparison:
- アプリと本
→ “apps and books” (more definite, just those two) - アプリや本
→ “apps, books, etc.” (non-exhaustive, but a bit more neutral/formal) - アプリとか本とか
→ “apps and books and stuff” (casual, vague, “things like apps and books”)
Here とか helps express that apps and books are just examples, not a complete list.
You could say アプリとか本が, and it would still be understandable, but:
- アプリとか本とか
gives a stronger “and things like that, etc.” feeling. Repeating とか after each noun is natural in casual speech and emphasizes the idea of “and other similar things”.
Nuance:
- アプリとか本がたくさん出ています。
→ “Apps and books and such have come out a lot.” - アプリとか本とかがたくさん出ています。
→ Slightly more vague: “Apps and books and stuff like that have come out a lot.”
The double とか is very common in conversational Japanese when you’re listing examples loosely.
Here, アプリとか本とか is the subject of the verb 出ています, so it takes が.
- アプリとか本とかがたくさん出ています。
= “Apps and books and such have come out a lot.”
If you used は, you’d be making them the topic instead:
- アプリとか本とかはたくさん出ています。
→ “As for apps and books and such, there are many (of them appearing).”
This is possible, but it shifts the emphasis slightly:
- が: marks what is actually appearing (subject focus).
- は: frames “apps and books and such” as the topic, maybe contrasting with something else (e.g., “apps and books (are many), but CDs are not”).
を doesn’t work because nothing is “acting on” アプリとか本とか; they are not direct objects, they are the things that are coming out.
The base verb is 出る（でる）, which has many meanings, including “to appear / to be published / to come out (on the market).”
出ている is 出る in the て-form plus いる:
- 出ている = “have come out and are (now) out” / “are out (on the market)”
This is a resultative use: it focuses on the current state resulting from a past action.
So:
- たくさん出ています。
Literally: “A lot (of them) have come out and are now out.”
Natural: “A lot of them have come out” or “There are many out now.”
It’s not just that they “come out” repeatedly right this moment; it describes the present situation that many such apps/books exist on the market now.
たくさん can work as an adverb (“a lot”) or a quantifier (“many”). Here it is modifying the verb 出ています:
- たくさん出ています
= “are coming out a lot / exist in large numbers”
Functionally, this means:
- “There are many apps/books (like that) coming out.”
You can also put it in front of the noun:
- たくさんのアプリとか本とかが出ています。
→ also grammatical: “Many apps and books like that are coming out.”
Differences:
- たくさん出ています
→ a bit more verb-focused: “They’re being released in large numbers.” - たくさんのアプリ
→ more noun-focused: “many apps.”
Both are correct; the original just chooses the adverbial pattern.
Yes, you could, but the nuance changes.
出ました (past tense)
→ Focuses on the action of appearing/releasing in the past.
→ “A lot of such apps and books have come out (at some point).”出ています (ている form, resultative)
→ Focuses on the current state that many are now out and available.
→ “There are many such apps and books out now.”
In a sentence describing a general current trend/situation, 出ています sounds more natural. 出ました sounds more like a one‑time event or completed action.
Yes, 質（しつ） generally means “quality” (as in “good vs bad quality”).
- 睡眠の質 = quality of sleep
- 音質（おんしつ） = sound quality
- 画質（がしつ） = image quality
- 生活の質（せいかつのしつ） = quality of life
In this context, 睡眠の質を上げる is naturally understood as “to improve how well/refreshing/restful your sleep is”.
Yes, that word order is grammatical. 最近は is an adverbial topic and is quite movable:
- 最近は睡眠の質を上げるアプリとか本とかがたくさん出ています。
- 睡眠の質を上げるアプリとか本とかが最近はたくさん出ています。
Both mean essentially the same: “Recently, many apps and books that improve sleep quality have come out.”
Nuance:
- Putting 最近は at the beginning sounds a bit more like you’re introducing the topic “As for these days…”.
- Putting it before たくさん出ています slightly emphasizes that the recent time is when the quantity is large.
In everyday conversation, sentence‑initial 最近は is very common and natural.