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Adverbs in Japanese works like English do – they modify verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs.

 

Forming Adverbs from Adjectives

In English, we formed adverbs by attaching the suffix -ly to the adjectives. Similarly, the Japanese also do the same modification as well.

–い (-i) Adjectives

For –い (-i) adjectives, all you need to do is as simple as substituting the -い (-i) with -く (-ku).

早い → 早く

hayai → hayaku

fast (adjective) → fast (adverb)

時間が早く過ぎる。

Jikan ga hayaku sugiru.

Time passes quickly.

 

–な (-na) Adjectives

For –な (-na) adjectives, simply attach -に (-ni) at the end of the adjectives.

静か → 静かに

shizuka → shizuka ni

quiet → quietly

 

彼は静かに歩きました。

Kare wa shizuka ni arukimashita.

He walked quietly.

 

Exceptions:

いい → よく

Ī → yoku

good → well

[よく (yoku) can also mean often – adverb of frequency]

 

かっこいい → かっこよく

kakkoī → kakkoyoku

cool → coolly

 

In fact, not all adverbs are derived from adjectives. These true adverbs are regularly used in sentences, so you should pay more attention to them.

 

Read: Chinese Characters of Japanese and Chinese Are Not All The Same!

 

Adverbs of Degree

Japanese	Romaji	English
ゆっくり	yukkuri	slowly
とても	totemo	very
あまり	amari	not very (used with negative verbs/adjectives only)
沢山	takusan	a lot
少し	sukoshi	a little
段々	dandan	gradually
もう	mō	already
まだ	mada	yet

Examples:

ゆっくり話してください。

Yukkuri hanashite kudasai

 Please speak slowly.

 

それをあまり信じないで。

Sore o amari shinjinaide.

Do not believe it too much.

[Note that あまり (amari) is followed by negative verbs, which marked by ない (nai)].

 

Adverbs of Time

Japanese	Romaji	English
今日	kyō	today
明日	ashita	tomorrow
昨日	kinō	yesterday
今	ima	now
今朝	kesa	this morning
今夜	konya	tonight
最近	saikin	recently
後で	atode	later

Examples:

明日は忙しいです。

Ashita wa isogashīdesu.

I will be busy tomorrow.

 

最近雨が多いです。

Saikin ame ga ōidesu.

It has been raining a lot recently.

 

Adverbs of Place

Japanese	Romaji	English
ここ	koko	here
そこ	soko	there
あそこ	asoko	over there
どこでも	doko demo	anywhere, wherever
どこか	doko ka	somewhere, anywhere

Examples:

私は昨日そこへ行きました。

Watashi wa kinō soko e ikimashita.

I went there yesterday.

 

どこでも好きなところに駐車してください。

Doko demo sukina tokoro ni chūsha shite kudasai.

Park wherever you like.

 

Adverbs of Frequency

Japanese	Romaji	English
いつも	itsumo	always
よく	yoku	often
通常	tsūjō	usually
時々	tokidoki	sometimes
たまに	tama ni	occasionally
めったに	metta ni	seldom
まれに	mare ni	rarely
決して	kesshite	never
毎日	mai nichi	everyday

Examples:

時々料理を作ります。

Tokidoki ryōri o tsukurimasu.

I cook sometimes.

 

決してあきらめません。

Kesshite akiramemasen.

I will never give up.

 

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