zatsuon ga sukunai to, sensei no nihongo ga yoku kikitoreru.

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Breakdown of zatsuon ga sukunai to, sensei no nihongo ga yoku kikitoreru.

• 日に本ほん語ご: Japanese (language)
• が: subject particle

Questions & Answers about zatsuon ga sukunai to, sensei no nihongo ga yoku kikitoreru.

Why is 少ない used here, and not 少なく?

Because 少ない is the plain form of an い-adjective, and the conditional と attaches to the plain form.

So:

• 雑音が少ない = there is little noise / the noise is low
• 雑音が少ないと = if/when there is little noise

By contrast:

• 少なく is the adverbial form, so it needs something after it, such as 少なくなる or 少なくて

Also, 少ない is one of those words that often works like this:

• お金が少ない = there is little money
• 時間が少ない = there is little time
• 雑音が少ない = there is little noise

So even though English might use something like little noise, Japanese expresses it as noise is few/little.

Why is が used after 雑音 instead of は?

Here, が marks 雑音 as the subject of the conditional clause:

• 雑音が少ない = the noise is low / there is little noise

Using が sounds neutral and descriptive. It simply presents the condition.

If you used は instead:

• 雑音は少ないと、...

that would sound unusual here, because は introduces a topic or contrast, and this sentence is not really trying to contrast noise with something else.

In short:

• が = natural for stating the condition plainly
• は = would add contrast or topical emphasis

What does と mean in this sentence?