I have just read this Japanese news article about the rainy season and El Niño:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k100150 ... 31000.html
There is a grammatical construction that I've encountered several times in the article and of whose exact meaning I am not entirely certain. It's a compound sentence ending in 「可能性(がある)」 and I am not sure if 「可能性」 refers to both or only the latter part of the sentence.
Here are the sentences in question:
In the title:
「ことしの梅雨は長くて雨がたくさん降る可能性」
In the main text:
「…ことしの梅雨は長くて、雨がたくさん降る可能性があると気象庁は言っています。」
「ことしは梅雨明が遅くて、雨も増える可能性があります。」
Which of the following two “interpretations” is correct?
- there is the possibility that this year's rainy season is going to be long and that it's going to rain a lot
- this year's rainy season is long and (therefore) there is the possibility that it's going to rain a lot
Help would be much appreciated.
Thank you.