Translation guide
How to express 'sparsely' in Japanese, covering thin distribution, infrequent occurrence, and sparse density.
Describing things that are few and far between, not densely packed.
Adverb meaning 'sparsely', 'thinly', or 'scatteredly'. Used for things like people, trees, or houses that are not dense.
観客はまばらに座っていた。
The audience was sitting sparsely.
Houses are sparsely built in this area.
Kanji form of まばらに. Same meaning but more common in written language.
木が疎らに生えている。
Trees are growing sparsely.
Onomatopoeic adverb suggesting scattered dots or sparse occurrences. Often used for lights, raindrops, or isolated items.
星がぽつぽつと見える。
Stars are visible sparsely.
街灯がぽつぽつと点いている。
Streetlights are lit sparsely.
Adverb meaning 'here and there', 'sparsely', often for people or things appearing in small numbers.
会場には人がちらほらいる。
There are people sparsely in the venue.
Describing something that happens only occasionally, not often.
Adverb meaning 'rarely' or 'infrequently'. Used for events that don't happen often.
彼はまれにしか来ない。
He comes only sparsely.
この地域では雪がまれに降る。
It snows sparsely in this region.
Casual adverb meaning 'occasionally', 'once in a while'. More conversational than まれに.
たまに映画を見に行く。
I go to the movies sparsely.
Describing an area with low population or thin vegetation.
Phrase meaning 'sparsely populated'. Used to describe areas with few people.
この地域は人口がまばらだ。
This area is sparsely populated.
Noun/adjective meaning 'depopulated' or 'sparsely populated', often used for rural areas suffering from population decline.
過疎地域では公共交通が少ない。
Public transportation is scarce in sparsely populated areas.
まばらに is for physical distribution (sparse arrangement), while まれに is for frequency (rare occurrence). Don't confuse them.
木がまばらに生えている。
Trees are growing sparsely.
彼はまれにしか来ない。
He rarely comes.