なぜ一種の植物が一年生の草本になったり、多年生の木本になったりするのでしょうか。

Sentence Analyzer

English Translation

I wonder why it is that some plants become annuals and others perennials?

Furigana

なぜ一種(いっしゅ)の植物(しょくぶつ)が一(いち)年生(ねんせい)の草本(そうほん)になったり、多年生(たねんせい)の木本(もくほん)になったりするのでしょうか。

Romanji

Naze isshu no shokubutsu ga ichi nensei no sōhon ni na tari, tanensei no mokuhon ni na tari suru no deshō ka.

Words

何故 (なぜ、なにゆえ)

why; how

一種 (いっしゅ、ひとくさ)

species; kind; variety

の (の)

indicates possessive; nominalizes verbs and adjectives; substitutes for "ga" in subordinate phrases; (at sentence-end, falling tone) indicates a confident conclusion; (at sentence-end) indicates emotional emphasis; (at sentence-end, rising tone) indicates question

植物 (しょくぶつ)

plant; vegetation

が (が)

indicates sentence subject (occasionally object); indicates possessive (esp. in literary expressions); but; however; still; and

一 (いち)

one; best; first; foremost; beginning; start; bottom string (on a shamisen, etc.)

年生 (ねんせい)

pupil in ... year; student in ... year

草本 (そうほん)

herbs

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

成る (なる)

to become; to get; to grow; to be; to reach; to attain; to result in; to prove to be; to consist of; to be composed of; to succeed; to be complete; to change into; to be exchanged for; to play a role; to be promoted; to do ...

たり (たり、だり)

-ing and -ing (e.g. "coming and going"); (used adverbially) doing such things as...; expresses a command; (after a noun) to be; indicates completion or continuation of an action

多年生 (たねんせい)

perennial (plant)

木本 (もくほん)

tree; woody plant

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

デス (デス)

death

か (か)

indicates a question (sometimes rhetorical); or; whether or not; some- (e.g. something, someone); indicates doubt, uncertainty, etc.; emphatic prefix; suffix forming adjectives or adverbs; in that way