decrease

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 減 has 12 strokes and denotes a decrease in number or quantity.
• Basic usage: 減る is read へる, and 減らす is read へらす.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Decreasing and making a reduction
  • 公園を訪れる人が減る describes the number of park visitors decreasing.
  • 電気代を減らす describes reducing an electricity bill, with を marking what is reduced.
• Distinguishing inflected forms
  • 減っていた comes from 減る and describes a past state after a decrease.
  • 減らせば is the conditional form of 減らす, meaning if one reduces something.