Japanese Adverbs.pdf

Japanese Adverbs Adverbs are the words that you may add to a sentence to give the verb a description. For instance in the English sentence “Tanaka runs fast.”, fast is the adverb, describing the way Tanaka runs. Adverbs are used in a similar manner in Japanese. tanakasan wa hayaku hashiru Mr. Tanaka runs fast. Adverbs can be made from adjectives, or be using dedicated words.

Adverbs made from -i adjectives To form an adverb from an -i adjective, add -ku to the stem. → Adverb

Adjective 安い

yasui

cheap

安く

yasuku

cheaply

早い

hayai

quick

早く

hayaku

quickly

楽し い

tanoshii enjoyable

楽し く

tanoshiku enjoyably

いい

ii

よく

yoku

good

well (Irregular, based on the alternate form “yoi” of “ii” )

昨日の晩トラコはよくねました。 Kinou no ban Torako wa yoku nemashita. Torako slept well last night.

Adverbs made from -na adjectives To form an adverb from a -na adjective, use ni after the adjective: → Adverb

Adjective 静か（な） shizuka(na) quiet

静かに shizuka ni quietly

簡単（な） kantan(na)

簡単に kantan ni

simple

トラコは静かに歩きます。 Torako wa shizuka ni arukimasu. Torako walks quietly.

simply

Adverbs not based on adjectives There are also many adverbs which are not derived from adjectives. The following are a few examples. (There are some derived from -na adjectives, and sometimes words are really nouns). 昨日

kinou

yesterday

あまり

amari

not much

少し

sukoshi

a little

少ない

sukunai

a few

今日

kyou

today

ばっかり

bakkari

only

たぶん

tabun

perhaps

明日

ashita

tomorrow

ちょっと

chotto

a little

大変

taihen

very

毎日

mainichi

every day

いかが

ikaga

how

たくさん

takusan

a lot

毎朝

maiasa

every morning

いつも

itsumo

always

ときどき

tokidoki

sometimes

今

ima

now

また

mata

again

とても

totemo

very

やがて

yagate

soon

もう

mou

already

ゆっくり

yukkuri

slowly

すぐ

sugu

inmediately

もっと

motto

more

全然

zenzen

at all (with negative verbs)

まだ

mada

yet, still

なかなか

nakanaka

completely

ほとんど

hotondo

almost

はっきり

hakkiri

clearly

どんどん

dondon

quickly

めったに

metta ni

seldom

突然

totsuzen

suddenly

そっと

sotto

smoothly, softly

きっと

kitto

certainly

さらに

sara ni

besides

そろそろ

sorosoro

gradually

益々, ますます

masumasu

more and more

前に

mae ni

before

後で, あとで

ato de

after

のち

nochi

later

さきほど、さっき

sakihodo, sakki

until recently

さっさと

sassato

quickly

再び

futatabi

again

そもそも

somosomo

in the first place

すでに

sudeni

already, too late

すっかり

sukkari

completely

とくに

toku ni

specially

取り敢えず

toriaezu

at once

相変わらず

aikawarazu

as ever

拘らず

kakawarazu

despite

わざわざ

wazawaza

on purpose

必ず

kanarazu

certainly, without failure

一般に

ippan ni

generally

大丈夫に

daijoubu ni

OK

一人で

hitori de

alone