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首都のワシントンでは、移民が多く働いているレストランなどがたくさん休みになりました。 In the capital -- Washington -- many restaurants where immigrants work took a break.

I'm not sure how to parse 移民が多く働いているレストラン.

Is 多く modifying 働く adverbially: "restaurants where immigrants work a lot".

Or is it two separate clauses i.e. 移民が多くて働いているレストラン: "In washington there are a lot of immigrants, and the restaurants where they work ..."

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移民が多く働いているレストラン can be rephrased as 多くの移民が働いているレストラン. That is to say, it means "Restaurants where many immigrants work".

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  • Thanks. That was my guess. Can you explain how I can know for sure that it isn't equivalent to 移民が多くて働いているレストラン? Would I need a comma after 多く for example, or is there some other reason you can't parse it like that.
    – user3856370
    Feb 19, 2017 at 17:30
  • Only this phrase "移民が多くて働いているレストラン" don't make sense because 移民が多くて can't modify "働いているレストラン". Your sentence "In Washington there are a lot of immigrants, and the restaurants where they work ..." is translated as ワシントンには移民が多くて、彼らが働くそのレストラン.....
    – Yuuichi Tam
    Feb 19, 2017 at 17:40
  • +1: How to say "restaurants where immigrants work much" with 多く?
    – Display Name
    Feb 19, 2017 at 17:42
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    @Single Fighter I think It would be "移民が多くの時間働いているレストラン". 多くの時間 can be rephrased as 長時間 and it may be more natural.
    – Yuuichi Tam
    Feb 19, 2017 at 17:50
  • Which is the complete translation? A or B? (I think it is A) A: In the metropolitan city of Washington restaurants where many immigrants work took many breaks. B: In the metropolitan city of Washington many restaurants where many immigrants work took a break.
    – Display Name
    Feb 19, 2017 at 18:01
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This 多く働く only means "many people work", not "work a lot." People usually don't say 多く働く to mean "work a lot", so it's not even ambiguous. Numbers can be expressed adverbially in Japanese. Just as you can say 移民が5人働く or りんごが5個ある, you can say 移民が多く働く or りんごがいっぱいある. It's far more common than English "in abundance," etc.

If it were 移民がたくさん働く, it's theoretically ambiguous since it can also safely mean "work a lot," but the meaning is clear fro the context, anyway.

一生懸命働く, 頑張って働く, etc., only mean "work hard".

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