彼は若いころ、大変上手に泳ぐことができた。

Sentence Analyzer

English Translation

He could swim very well when he was young.

Furigana

彼(かれ)は若(わか)いころ、大変(たいへん)上手(じょうず)に泳(およ)ぐことができた。

Romanji

Kare wa wakai koro, taihen jōzu ni oyogu koto ga dekita.

Words

彼 (かれ)

he; him; his; boyfriend

は (は)

topic marker particle; indicates contrast with another option (stated or unstated); adds emphasis

若い (わかい)

young; youthful; immature; green; low (number); small

ころ (ころ)

roller; runner; dried whale blubber

大変 (たいへん)

very; greatly; immense; enormous; great; serious; grave; dreadful; terrible; difficult; hard; major incident; disaster

上手 (じょうず、じょうて、じょうしゅ)

skill; skillful; dexterity; flattery

に (に)

at (place, time); in; on; during; to (direction, state); toward; into; for (purpose); because of (reason); for; with; by; from; as (i.e. in the role of); per; in; for; a (e.g. "once a month"); and; in addition to; if; although

泳ぐ (およぐ)

to swim

事 (こと、こん)

thing; matter; incident; occurrence; event; something serious; trouble; crisis; circumstances; situation; state of affairs; work; business; affair; after an inflectable word, creates a noun phrase indicating something the speaker does not feel close to; nominalizing suffix; pretending to ...; playing make-believe ...; alias; aka; nickname; alternative name; also known as

が (が)

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

出来る (できる)

to be able (in a position) to do; to be up to the task; to be ready; to be completed; to be made; to be built; to be good at; to be permitted (to do); to become intimate; to take up (with somebody); to grow; to be raised; to become pregnant