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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.

Adjective Adverb
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 good 
よく
yoku 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:
Adjective Adverb
静か(な)
shizuka(na)
quiet 静かに shizuka ni quietly
簡単(な) kantan(na)
simple
簡単に kantan ni simply

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

Adverbs not based on adjectives

There are also many adverbs which are not derived from adjectives. The following list provides a few examples. (Note: there are some on this list derived from -na adjectives, and some of the time 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
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, whitout fail
一般に ippan ni generally
大丈夫に daijoubu ni
OK
一人で hitori de alone



This page is edited by the StudyJapanese.org Team, based on a part of "Some Notes on Japanese Grammar" published for your personal use, with the kind permission of Keith Smillie (http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~smillie/)
Comments (3)
Nice
3 Thursday, 12 November 2009 22:50
Daylady1028
clears it up for me 8-)
??
2 Wednesday, 13 May 2009 13:11
pshycoh
confusing!
*raise eyebrow* a few? :) nvm.
1 Tuesday, 14 April 2009 00:45
Alynne07
it'll just need a bit more lead. but it is useful... so ありがと!
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