Is たち in 子供たち redundant?


In my understanding, 達{たち} is a suffix used to pluralize a countable noun. For
example,

  * 私 (single) becomes 私たち (plural)
  * あなた (single) becomes あなたたち (plural)

According to most dictionaries, 子供 can be translated as either child or
children. As a result, if we want to say children (instead of child), I think
子供 should be enough. In other words, is it true that for saying "children", たち
in 子供たち is redundant?




Japanese language doesn't have plural form of noun like English. So we can't
know how many children are playing in the park in this sentence
"子供が公園で遊んでいます".

If you want to say "A child is playing in the park", you say
"一人の子供が公園で遊んでいます。"

If you want to say "Children are playing in the park", you say
"子供たちが公園で遊んでいます。".




No. I suppose it's a bit like `you guys`. It serves to make it clear there are
multiple children.

