You are on page 1of 3

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.

Adjective → Adverb
安い yasui cheap 安く yasuku cheaply

早い hayai quick 早く hayaku quickly

楽し tanoshii enjoyable 楽し tanoshiku enjoyably


い く

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 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

You might also like