〜が〜を占める・〜が占める~ga ~o shimeru

Ga o shimeru (〜が〜を占める・〜が占める) means “account for a share”.

このkono町まちmachiでdeは、わ、wa、高齢者こうれいしゃkoureishaがga人口じんこうjinkouのno30さんじゅうsanjuu％ぱーせんとpaasentoをo占めしめshimeてteいます。imasu。

In this town, elderly people account for 30% of the population.

Use 〜が〜を占める to present the proportion that a part accounts for within a whole, often in statistics.

In the course

How it works

The ten boxes represent the whole population. How many do older people account for? First identify the whole and the part.
「占める」 expresses the proportion or share a part accounts for in a whole. In the picture, it is 30%.
The part comes before 「が」, and its proportion of the whole comes before 「を」. Keep them in this order.
You do not always need a number. If tourism accounts for a large share, you can also use 「大きな割合」.
Forests account for about 70% of the land, or roughly seven tenths. Both expressions give the same proportion.
When the proportion is already clear from the context, you can leave out the 「～を」 phrase and use 「～が占める」.
Use this pattern when presenting statistics on population, industries, or land to explain the share a part accounts for.

このkono町まちmachiでdeは、わ、wa、高齢者こうれいしゃkoureishaがga人口じんこうjinkouのno30さんじゅうsanjuu％ぱーせんとpaasentoをo占め

A
日本にっぽんはわ山やまが多くおおくて平らな土地たいらなとちが少ないすくないと聞きました。ききました。
A: I heard that Japan has many mountains and little flat land.
B
ええ、実じつ

Level 1 · Recognise
Which sentence is correct?
Level 1 · Recognise
Listen and choose the meaning
Level 2 · Build
Put the words in order
In this town, elderly people make up 30% of the population.
Level 3 · Use
What goes in the blank?
この町では、高齢者が人口の30％を____ています。
In this town, elderly people account for 30% of the population.