一番 with verbs rather than adjectives


> 国の研究によると、今年日本の近くの海に来るさんまは、 **今まででいちばんとれなかった** 去年より少なくなりそうです。  
>  According to the country's research, the amount of sanma coming to the seas
> near Japan this year seems to have decreased compared to last year where ???

I assume 今まででいちばんとれなかった is a relative clause modifying 'last year' but I'm
struggling to make sense out of it.

Literally I translate it as "up until now most not harvested". So overall I
think the message is that last year they caught the least number of fish ever,
and this year is predicted to be worse. Is this correct?

I think I normally see いちばん with an adjective (rather than a verb) so I'm
finding it a little confusing. Could you please provide a few simple examples
of いちばん used with a verb so I can get a better feel for its use? Does it only
work in relative clauses?




Your interpretation about the message is correct.

[一番 is actually an **_adverb_** in this situation, and it is modifying the
verb
取る.](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%B8%80%E7%95%AA-433597#E3.83.87.E3.82.B8.E3.82.BF.E3.83.AB.E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.B3.89)
In many other situations however, you often find it modifying an adjective
instead, i.e "一番いいサッカーゲーム" hence why it might be confusing.

Here are some examples:

"いまいちばん行きたい国は、日本です。" from [j-nihongo.com](http://j-nihongo.com/ichiban/)

"一番乗りたい車" (self made)




I'd translate it as something like...

> 今年...今まででいちばんとれなかった去年より少なくなりそうです  
>  This year fewer samma appear to have been caught than last year for which
> the catch had been worst of any previous year.

A few points to note here.

  * I've treated 今までで as "any previous year"
  * I use the noun **catch** where the Japanese uses the verb とる, and I've ignored the potential, which I think just sounds weird in English, though it makes sense in the Japanese.
  * I translate いちばん as "worst" (capturing the negative from とれなかった

Essentially I find いちばんとれなかった difficult to translate somewhat literally
directly into English: hence my "worst catch".

Technically 今までで means "up until now". But in this context, we looking at
catches per year, and the year which this phrase is coupled with is 去年. So,
that would make it essentially "up until last year". Again, we're talking
about _catches **per** year_, thus I boil this idea down to "any previous
year". Perhaps a bit of stretch, it's definitely not literal, but I think it
preserves the spirit of the Japanese.

Another possibility, since I've noticed a number of native speakers commenting
on my misreading of adverbially clauses and their scope, the 今までで could be
referring to "Up until now" of this year rendering the translation as

> This year's catch, up until now, looks like it's going to be smaller than
> last year's catch which had been the worst

