日本人は以前は主に米を主食としていた。

Sentence Analyzer

日本人は以前は主に米を主食としていた。

English Translation

The Japanese used to live mainly on rice.

Furigana

日本人(にっぽんじん)は以前(いぜん)は主(おも)に米(こめ)を主食(しゅしょく)としていた。

Romanji

Nipponjin wa izen wa omo ni kome o shushoku to shiteita.

Words

日本人 (にほんじん、にっぽんじん)

Japanese person; Japanese people

は (は)

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

以前 (いぜん)

ago; since; before; previous

主 (おも)

chief; main; principal; important; main secondary or supporting role (in kyogen)

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

米 (こめ、よね、めめ、コメ)

(husked grains of) rice; 88 years old

を (を)

indicates direct object of action; indicates subject of causative expression; indicates an area traversed; indicates time (period) over which action takes place; indicates point of departure or separation of action; indicates object of desire, like, hate, etc.

主食 (しゅしょく)

staple food

と (と)

if; when; and; with; particle used for quoting (with speech, thoughts, etc.); quoting particle; promoted pawn; indicates question (sentence end)

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