塵も積もれば山となる
dust | also | piled up | if | mountain | to become
Even dust when piled up becomes a mountain.
ちり も つもれば、 やま となる
Even dust when piled up becomes a mountain.
- Many a little makes a mickle. [“Mickle” means “a large amount”]
- Every little bit helps
- Even small efforts in time lead to great things
- 塵 dust [represents something trivial but if accumulated, it can be something good. A penny or only five minutes to study Japanese a day...]
- も even
- 積もる accumulate; pile up [積もった雪 piled up (accumulated) snow; click here to learn fun words related to snow.]
- ～れば makes a conditional “if” or “even when…” [Click here to learn more on this grammatical form.]
- ～となる becomes
となる and になる...What's the difference?
Both ～となる and ～になる mean "to come to" or "to become." They both show a change of state.
The difference is in usage. になる is used to show a natural change, something anyone would expect. It is also most likely to be used in conversation.
彼は大人になりました。
He became an adult.
(Something kids tend to become in time)
となる, however, often describes a change that isn't as natural. It also tends to sound more formal.
新幹線は運転休止となった。
The bullet train service was stopped.
(Something that almost never happens)
In the case of today's proverb, one would not expect even a lot of dust to become a mountain, but the proverb expresses that artificial change. Thus となる is used instead of になる.
塵も積もれば山となるというから、毎日１０円ずつ貯金しよう。
English & Vocabulary
ちりつも
Is 「塵も積もれば山となる」 for you? Don't worry! The Japanese love to abbreviate longish words and phrases, and this oft-used proverb is no exception.
It takes the first two mora from the first two words in the phrase:
- 塵→ちり (happens to be the entire two-mora word)
- 積もれば→つも
And becomes 「ちりつも」 or in katakana as 「チリツモ」.
Usages
You can use 「ちりつも」 in ways such as:
ちりつも貯金
save money a little bit at a time; add to your savings a little every day to eventually become a large amount
毎日、日本語を勉強している。チリツモだね。
I'm studying Japanese everyday. Eventually, It'll pay off.
