彼らが出発するか、しないかのうちに、雨が降り出した。

Sentence Analyzer

English Translation

They had hardly started when it began to rain.

Furigana

彼(かれ)らが出発(しゅっぱつ)するか、しないかのうちに、雨(あめ)が降(ふ)り出(だ)した。

Romanji

Karera ga shuppatsusuru ka, shinai ka no uchini, ame ga furidashita.

Words

彼ら (かれら)

they (usually male); them

が (が)

indicates sentence subject (occasionally object); indicates possessive (esp. in literary expressions); but; however; still; and

出発 (しゅっぱつ)

departure

か (か)

indicates a question (sometimes rhetorical); or; whether or not; some- (e.g. something, someone); indicates doubt, uncertainty, etc.; emphatic prefix; suffix forming adjectives or adverbs; in that way

為る (する)

to do; to cause to become; to make (into); to turn (into); to serve as; to act as; to work as; to wear (clothes, a facial expression, etc.); to judge as being; to view as being; to think of as; to treat as; to use as; to decide on; to choose; to be sensed (of a smell, noise, etc.); to be (in a state, condition, etc.); to be worth; to cost; to pass (of time); to elapse; verbalizing suffix (applies to nouns noted in this dictionary with the part of speech "vs"); creates a humble verb (after a noun prefixed with "o" or "go"); to be just about to; to be just starting to; to try to; to attempt to

の (の)

indicates possessive; nominalizes verbs and adjectives; substitutes for "ga" in subordinate phrases; (at sentence-end, falling tone) indicates a confident conclusion; (at sentence-end) indicates emotional emphasis; (at sentence-end, rising tone) indicates question

打ち荷 (うちに)

jettisoned cargo

雨 (あめ)

rain

降り出す (ふりだす)

to begin to rain; to begin to snow