You can understand and say one of the most famous phrases in a Japanese song ‘Christmas Eve’ by Tatsuro Yamashita.
Key Sentence
雨は夜更けすぎに雪へと変わるだろう。
Romaji: a me wa yo fu ke su gi ni yu ki e to ka wa ru da ro u
Meaning: Rain will turn into snow after midnight.
You can find the sentence at 36 seconds in the video below.
One by one
- 雨（あめ） → rain
- は → no meaning
- 夜更け（よふけ） → midnight
- 過ぎに（すぎに） → after
- 雪（ゆき） → snow
- へ → to
- と → no meaning
- 変わる（かわる） → change
- だろう → would
夜更け（よふけ）
This is the most difficult word in the sentence. People don’t know exactly when 夜更け is. It is around midnight when it is very quiet outside.
過ぎに（すぎに）
過ぎに means ‘after’ and is used with time.
五時過ぎに会いましょう。
Let’s meet after 5 pm.
snow and Christmas
Snow is one of the most symbolic words to describe Japanese Christmas.
Japan locates in the northern hemisphere and they have winter during Christmas.
Some people may have snow if they live in the northern area of Japan.
Japanese people do not celebrate Christmas religiously but many of them enjoy the festive event to have a party and give presents to somebody to love.