Improving sleep habits realistically | Learn Japanese in English

Sentence explanations

1. 早く寝ても、睡眠の質がよくありません。

   My sleep quality has been poor even when I go to bed early.

   早く

   early

   寝ても

   even when (I) go to bed

   睡眠

   sleep

   質

   quality

   よくありません

   is not good

   More detail

   早く is the adverbial form of 早い, meaning “early” here. The adjective 早い describes something as early or fast depending on context; 早く is the form used to modify an action. Example: 早く起きます。 — “I get up early.” 寝ても consists of 寝る (“to sleep; to go to bed”) in its て-form, 寝て, plus も. In this pattern, て + も means “even if” or “even when.” The sentence’s translation identifies the omitted subject as “I,” but Japanese does not state that subject in this utterance. Example: 忙しくても、運動します。 — “Even when I am busy, I exercise.” 睡眠 is the noun “sleep,” especially sleep considered as a state or period. It is different from 寝る, the verb “to sleep” or “to go to bed.” Here, 睡眠 is part of the noun phrase 睡眠の質, “sleep quality.” The particle の links the two nouns: AのB means “B of A” or “A’s B.” 質 means “quality.” In 睡眠の質, it specifies what kind of quality is being discussed. Example: この製品は質が高いです。 — “This product is high-quality.” よくありません means “is not good” in this sentence. よい (also commonly written or said as いい) means “good”; its adverbial form is よく. The polite negative predicate is formed here with よくありません. This is not the negative of 寝る; it evaluates the preceding noun phrase, 睡眠の質. A useful contrast is よいです — “is good” versus よくありません — “is not good.” Together, 早く寝ても sets up the concessive condition “even when I go to bed early.” 睡眠の質 is the subject-like noun phrase “sleep quality,” and よくありません says that it is not good. The whole utterance therefore means: “My sleep quality has been poor even when I go to bed early.”

2. 夜はどのように過ごしていますか。

   What does your evening routine look like?

   夜

   evening; night

   どのように

   how; in what way

   過ごしていますか

   spend (your time)?

   More detail

   夜 means “evening” or “night” here. With は, it is the topic: “as for the evening/night.” The exact boundary between evening and night is context-dependent; here the translation supports an evening-routine reading. どのように asks “how” or “in what way.” It is a relatively formal expression. The shorter どう is also common in everyday questions: どう過ごしていますか。 means “How are you spending your time?” 過ごしていますか comes from the verb 過ごす, “to spend time” or “to pass time.” The form 過ごしている uses the ている pattern and can describe an ongoing situation or a regular way of doing something; in this question, it asks about the person’s usual way of spending the evening. か marks the sentence as a question, and the polite ending makes the question courteous. The form does not itself specify the person by a separate pronoun; the intended subject is understood from the context and translation. Together, 夜は sets “the evening/night” as the topic, どのように asks about the manner, and 過ごしていますか asks how that time is spent. Thus the whole utterance means “What does your evening routine look like?” or, more literally, “How do you spend the evening?”

3. 夕食後にコーヒーを飲み、ベッドでスマートフォンを見ています。

   I drink coffee after dinner and check my phone in bed.

   夕食後に

   after dinner

   コーヒー

   coffee

   飲み

   drink, then…

   ベッドで

   in bed

   スマートフォン

   smartphone

   見ています

   am looking at

   More detail

   夕食後に means “after dinner.” 夕食 is “dinner,” and 後 means “after” when it follows a noun. The particle に marks the time at which an action takes place. A reusable pattern is Nの後に + action: 仕事の後に休みます。 — “I rest after work.” コーヒー is “coffee,” written in katakana as a loanword. In this sentence it is the thing being consumed; the object marker を follows it in the full text: コーヒーを. 飲み comes from the verb 飲む, “to drink.” The observed form is the verb stem used before the Japanese linking form 、; it connects this action to the following action: コーヒーを飲み、… — “drink coffee and then …” The stem is not a separate verb meaning “then.” Other forms include 飲みます (polite non-past), 飲みました (polite past), and 飲んで (a different connective form, often used in a more conversational sequence). ベッドで means “in/on the bed” in this sentence. ベッド is “bed,” and the particle で marks the place where an action occurs. This differs from に when に marks a destination or a location of existence: ベッドで本を読みます。 — “I read a book in bed.” スマートフォン is “smartphone.” It is the object of 見る in the full sentence, with を following it: スマートフォンを. The word is a katakana loanword; a shorter everyday word such as スマホ is also used in Japanese, but that shorter form is not the one in the fixed utterance. 見ています comes from 見る, “to look at” or “watch,” and here means “am looking at/checking.” 見て is the connective form of 見る, followed by います. This 〜ています form can describe an action in progress, but it can also describe a current habitual or ongoing situation. The fixed translation presents this as part of an evening routine, so it does not require the action to be occurring at the exact moment of speaking. 見ます is the polite non-past form, while 見ました is the polite past form. The form is polite and non-past here; it does not mark the gender of the person doing the action. Together, 夕食後に sets the time, コーヒーを飲み gives the first action, and ベッドでスマートフォンを見ています gives the second action and its location. The whole utterance means: “I drink coffee after dinner and check my phone in bed.” The polite style is suitable for answering the preceding question about an evening routine.

4. カフェインと画面を見る時間は、どちらも気持ちを落ち着けにくくすることがあります。

   Both caffeine and screen time can make it harder to wind down.

   カフェイン

   caffeine

   画面

   screen

   見る

   to look at; to watch

   時間

   time

   どちらも

   both

   気持ち

   feelings; state of mind

   落ち着けにくくする

   make it hard to calm down

   ことがあります

   can; sometimes does

   More detail

   カフェイン means caffeine. It is a noun, and here it names one factor that may affect how easily someone winds down. 画面 means screen. It is a noun. In this sentence, 画面を見る means “look at a screen,” and 画面を見る時間 means “the time spent looking at a screen.” The noun 画面 is not itself the whole idea of screen time; 見る時間 completes that meaning. 見る is the verb “to look at,” “to watch,” or “to see,” depending on context. Its base form is 見る; the form here is also the plain nonpast form, used inside the noun-modifying expression 画面を見る時間. Example: 映画を見る時間 means “time to watch a film.” 時間 is a noun meaning time. After a verb in plain form, it can identify a period spent doing that action: 読む時間 means “time to read.” Here, 画面を見る時間 is the time spent looking at screens, not merely a clock time. どちらも means both, referring to the two items connected before it by と: caffeine and screen time. どちら is the “which of two” form, and も adds the meaning “also/even,” producing “both” in this context. Example: 二つとも便利です means “Both are useful.” 気持ち means feelings or one’s mental state. Here it refers to the state that can become calm or settled. The expression 気持ちを落ち着ける means “calm one’s feelings” or “settle oneself”; を marks 気持ち as the object of that action. 落ち着けにくくする means make it difficult to calm down or wind down. The underlying verb 落ち着く means “become calm” or “settle down.” Its transitive counterpart 落ち着ける means “calm or settle something/someone.” In 落ち着けにくい, にくい attaches to 落ち着ける and means that calming or settling is difficult. The following する uses the pattern 〜にくくする, “make something difficult to do”; it is not itself a special causative inflection. Example: この薬は眠りにくくする means “This medicine makes it difficult to sleep.” In the fixed sentence, 気持ちを落ち着けにくくする says that the factors make winding down more difficult. ことがあります presents the situation as something that can happen or sometimes happens. こと nominalizes the preceding event, and あります is the polite nonpast form of ある, “exist.” With a preceding plain-form clause, ことがあります can express an occasional possibility, as here: “can make it harder to wind down.” It does not assert that this happens every time. Together, カフェインと画面を見る時間は sets caffeine and time spent looking at screens as the topic. どちらも says that both of them have the stated effect. 気持ちを落ち着けにくくする says that they make it harder to settle one’s state of mind, and ことがあります presents this as a possible or occasional effect. The whole utterance therefore means: “Both caffeine and screen time can make it harder to wind down.”

5. 一度にすべてを変えることはできません。

   I cannot change everything at once.

   一度に

   at once

   すべて

   everything

   変える

   change

   ことはできません

   cannot do ...

   More detail

   一度に means doing something all in one go or at the same time. 一度 is “one time,” and 一度に uses に to mark the manner or timing. It contrasts with doing something gradually or in separate stages. すべて means “everything” or “all of it.” It is a broad quantity word; here it refers to the things being changed, without specifying them individually. 変える is the dictionary form of the verb meaning “to change something.” It is transitive: the thing changed is expressed before it, as in 計画を変える (“change the plan”). Do not confuse it with 変わる, “to change” or “to become different” without presenting an agent who changes it. ことはできません expresses that an action is not possible or cannot be done. The verb phrase 変える is turned into an action noun with こと: 変えること means “changing” or “to change.” は sets that action as the topic, and できません is the polite negative form of できる, “can” or “be possible.” The pattern is verb-dictionary form + ことはできません = “cannot [verb].” Together, すべてを変える means “change everything,” and 一度に specifies that this would be done all in one go. The complete utterance therefore means: “I cannot change everything at once.”

6. 夕食後のコーヒーをやめるなど、現実的な変化を一つ始めてみましょう。

   Start with one realistic change, like skipping coffee after dinner.

   夕食後の

   after dinner

   コーヒー

   coffee

   やめる

   stop; give up

   など

   such as; like

   現実的な

   realistic

   変化

   change

   一つ

   one

   始めてみましょう

   let’s try starting

   More detail

   夕食後の means “after dinner” here. 夕食 is “dinner,” and 後 is “after/behind”; の links this time expression to the following noun: 夕食後のコーヒー = “coffee after dinner.” The same pattern is reusable with other time expressions, such as 仕事後の散歩 (“a walk after work”). コーヒー is the noun “coffee.” In this sentence it is the thing affected by the following action, not the action itself. やめる is the dictionary-form verb “to stop” or “give up.” Here it means stopping the habit of drinking the coffee mentioned before it, so the intended meaning is “skip coffee.” Its polite form is やめます; the negative form is やめない (“not stop”). Example: お酒をやめます。 — “I will stop drinking alcohol.” など means “such as” or “like.” Attached after やめる, it turns that action into an example: コーヒーをやめるなど = “like skipping coffee.” It does not mean that skipping coffee is the only possible change. 現実的な means “realistic” or “practical.” 現実的 is a な-adjective: before a noun it takes な, as in 現実的な変化. A related contrast is 非現実的な (“unrealistic”), though the negative-looking prefix should be learned as part of that contrasting word rather than treated as an automatic rule for every adjective. 変化 is the noun “change.” 現実的な変化 therefore means “a realistic change.” Example: 小さな変化を始めます。 — “I will start a small change.” 一つ means “one” when counting general things or choices. Here it explicitly marks one change, rather than merely introducing an unspecified item. The counter-like element つ can count many general items: 二つ means “two.” 始めてみましょう combines 始める (“to start”) in the て-form, 始めて, with みる (“to try”) in the polite volitional form みましょう. As a construction, 〜てみましょう means “let’s try doing ~.” Here 始めてみましょう means “let’s try starting.” The みる part expresses trying the action; it is not a literal reference to seeing. Example: 新しい方法を試してみましょう。 — “Let’s try a new method.” Putting the sentence together: 夕食後のコーヒーをやめるなど gives an example of a possible change, 現実的な変化を一つ identifies one realistic change, and 始めてみましょう proposes trying to begin it. The complete meaning is “Let’s start with one realistic change, like skipping coffee after dinner.”

7. それなら、寝る前にスマートフォンを見る代わりに読書ができます。

   Then I can replace phone time with reading before bed.

   それなら

   then; in that case

   寝る前に

   before going to bed

   スマートフォン

   smartphone

   見る

   look at

   代わりに

   instead of

   読書

   reading

   できます

   can do; is possible

   More detail

   それなら means “then” or “in that case.” It refers back to the situation just discussed and introduces a resulting choice or possibility. The related form なら can follow a noun or quoted/content phrase to mean “if it is...” or “as for...,” while それなら is a ready-made discourse expression. 寝る前に means “before going to bed.” 寝る is the dictionary form of 寝る (“to sleep”); before 前 (“front; before”), a verb in its plain form can specify the event that has not yet happened. The particle に marks the time at which the following action is situated. For example, 出かける前に食べます。 means “I eat before going out.” スマートフォン is the noun “smartphone.” It is a loanword written in katakana. In this sentence it is the thing involved in the action 見る, but Japanese does not require an article such as “a” or “the.” 見る means “to look at” or “watch,” and here it describes looking at the smartphone. This is the dictionary/plain form of the verb; in 見る代わりに, that form is used before 代わりに to build the pattern “instead of doing...”. For example, テレビを見る代わりに本を読みます。 means “I read a book instead of watching television.” 代わりに means “instead of” in this construction. The noun 代わり literally relates to a substitute or replacement, and に marks the role or resulting alternative. The pattern verb-plain form + 代わりに presents one action as the alternative to another. Here, 見る代わりに is one unit: “instead of looking at [the smartphone].” 読書 is the noun “reading,” especially the activity of reading books or other written material. It can be used with する as 読書する (“to read; to do reading”), but in this sentence it is directly followed by ができます, a common pattern meaning that the activity is possible or can be done: 読書ができます. できます is the polite non-past form of できる, “can do” or “be possible.” できる is the plain form, and できます is its polite form; this verb does not mark the English-style distinction between “can” and “be able to” with a separate auxiliary. With an activity noun, Nができます can mean “can do N” or “N is possible.” Together, スマートフォンを見る代わりに means “instead of looking at the smartphone,” and 読書ができます means “reading is possible” or, with the intended subject supplied by the fixed translation, “I can read.” 寝る前に places this alternative before bedtime. Thus the whole utterance means: “Then I can replace phone time with reading before bed.” The subject is not stated in the Japanese sentence; the fixed translation identifies the intended actor as “I.”

8. 完璧な習慣より、続けられる習慣のほうが大切です。

   A routine you can keep matters more than a perfect one.

   完璧な

   perfect

   習慣

   habit; routine

   より

   than

   続けられる

   can keep up

   ほうが大切です

   is more important

   More detail

   完璧な means “perfect” here and directly describes 習慣. 完璧 is a noun-like な-adjective: before a noun it takes な, as in 完璧な習慣. A useful contrast is 完璧ではない習慣 (“a habit that is not perfect”); the negative form is built from the adjective phrase, not from the noun. 習慣 means “habit” or “routine.” It is the noun used twice in this sentence: first in 完璧な習慣 (“a perfect routine”) and again in 続けられる習慣 (“a routine you can keep”). Japanese can repeat the noun where English uses “one.” より marks the comparison standard: the phrase before it is what the other option is compared with. In the pattern AよりBのほうが大切です, B is more important than A. Here, 完璧な習慣 is the comparison standard, not the more important option. 続けられる means “can keep” or “can continue” in this sentence. Its base verb is 続ける, “to continue” or “to keep doing something,” and 続けられる is its potential form, expressing ability or feasibility. In 続けられる習慣, the whole relative clause modifies 習慣: it is a routine that the relevant person can keep up. For example, 毎日続けられる方法 means “a method I/you can continue every day”; the person able to continue it is understood from context. ほうが大切です completes the comparison. ほう means “the one/option” in this pattern, and 大切です means “is important” or “matters.” 大切 is a な-adjective; です gives the sentence a polite ending. The compact pattern Bのほうが大切です presents B as the more important option. For example, 安全な方法のほうが大切です means “A safe method is more important.” Together, 完璧な習慣より sets a perfect routine as the comparison standard, while 続けられる習慣のほうが大切です says that a routine the person can maintain is the more important option. Thus the whole utterance means: “A routine you can keep matters more than a perfect one.”

9. 結果を判断する前に、短い期間それを試してみます。

   I can test that for a short period before judging the result.

   結果

   result

   判断する

   judge; assess

   前に

   before

   短い

   short

   期間

   period

   それ

   that

   試してみます

   try it out

   More detail

   結果 means “result” here. It is a noun; the phrase 結果を marks the result as the object of the later action. A useful pattern is Nを判断する (“judge/assess N”). 判断する is the dictionary-form verb “to judge” or “to assess.” In 判断する前に, this form appears before 前に because Japanese uses the plain form of a verb before this time expression: Vる前に = “before doing V.” 前に means “before” in this sentence. With a verb, Vる前に places one action before another: 寝る前に、本を読みます。 — “I read a book before going to bed.” 短い is the adjective “short,” and it modifies the noun that follows. Its own base form is 短い; it is not an inflection of 期間. In this sentence, it describes the length of the period. The contrasting adjective is 長い (“long”). 期間 is the noun “period” or “span of time.” Together, 短い期間 means “a short period.” Japanese adjectives normally come before the nouns they describe, as in 長い期間 (“a long period”). それ is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. Its grammatical form does not identify a particular gender or number. The fixed translation supports the meaning “that” as the thing being tested, but does not give it a more specific name. 試してみます combines 試す (“to try” or “test”) with 〜てみる (“try doing something to see what happens”), followed by polite ます. Thus, 試してみます means “I will try/test it” in this context. The みます part is not the ordinary verb “see” here; after a verb’s て-form, 〜てみる expresses trying an action. The polite nonpast form can refer to a planned future action, as it does here. Example: 新しい方法を試してみます。 — “I’ll try the new method.” The sentence first sets the time condition: 結果を判断する前に means “before judging the result.” Then 短い期間 gives the duration, それを identifies what is tested, and 試してみます states the planned attempt. Together: “I can test that for a short period before judging the result.”

10. それなら、体が慣れるのに十分な時間を取れます。

    That gives your body enough time to adjust.

    それなら

    in that case

    体

    body

    慣れる

    get used to; adjust

    のに

    for; in order to

    十分な

    enough; sufficient

    時間

    time

    取れます

    can take; can set aside

    More detail

    それなら means “in that case” or “if that is so.” It connects the utterance to the situation just mentioned and presents the following result as applying under that condition. 体 means “body.” In this sentence it is the body that gets accustomed, expressed in the combined pattern 体が慣れる. The word can also refer to a person’s physical condition in other contexts. Example: 体を休める means “to rest one’s body.” 慣れる is the plain, nonpast form of the verb “to become accustomed” or “to get used to.” The thing someone becomes accustomed to is commonly marked with に, as in 新しい環境に慣れる — “to get used to a new environment.” Here, the body itself is the thing becoming accustomed, so 体が慣れる means “the body adjusts/gets used to it.” のに has a purpose-related use here: a plain-form verb plus の turns the action into something that can be followed by に, producing a pattern like Vのに必要な時間 or Vのに十分な時間 — “time necessary/sufficient for doing V.” This is different from the concessive のに meaning “although,” which requires a different context and relationship between clauses. 十分な is the attributive form of the na-adjective 十分だ, meaning “sufficient” or “enough.” Before a noun, it uses な: 十分な時間 means “enough time.” The adjective modifies 時間, not 体 or 慣れる. 時間 means “time.” In the pattern 時間を取る, it is the time being taken or set aside. Example: 勉強する時間を取る means “to set aside time to study.” 取れます is the polite nonpast potential form of 取る: 取る “take/set aside” → 取れる “can take/set aside” → 取れます. In this sentence it expresses that enough time can be secured or made available. The person who can secure it is not stated by a separate noun in the sentence; the fixed translation presents the resulting situation as giving the body enough time to adjust. Together, 体が慣れるのに identifies the purpose—“for the body to adjust”—and 十分な時間を取れます says that enough time can be set aside for that purpose. With それなら at the beginning, the whole utterance means: “In that case, that gives your body enough time to adjust.”