Japanese adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, as well as other adverbs. These are called ふくし(fukushi) in Japanese. These can be placed anywhere in the sentence before the main verb, and generally do not need particles.
For easier understanding, Japanese adverbs are similar to adjectives. However, instead of describing objects, Japanese adverbs describes how an action is done, and/or supply another description to other descriptions.
In this article, we will be teaching you some of the commonly used adverbs in Japanese, and how they are conjugated and usually applied in sentences.
To make it easier to grasp and digest, we have divided these adverbs according to their categories.
1. Japanese Adverb of Manners
Modifying Adjectives
Similar to English, adjectives can be transformed into adverbs by changing the endings of the words. When conjugating Japanese adjectives to adverbs, you have to identify first if the word is i- adjective or na- adjective.
Basically, i- adjectives are ending with “i”, while na- adjectives are ending with “na”. However, there are a few words that ends with “i” but are categorized as na- adjectives (eg. きれいなkirei (na) , ゆめいなyuumei (na) ).
い-adjectives / i- adjectives
Rule: stem + い (i)→ stem + く(ku)
delicious おいしい (oishii)→ deliciously おいしく (oishiku)
cold つめたい (tsumetai)→ coldly つめたく (tsumetaku)
interestingおもしろい (omoshiroi)→ interestinglyおもしろく (omoshiroku)
expensiveたかい (takai)→ expensivelyたかく (takaku)
For example,
ははがみんなのためにゆうしょくをおいしくつくりました。 | Mother deliciously cooked dinner for everyone. |
だれかにつめたくこたえたことがありますか。 Dareka ni tsumetaku kotaeta koto ga arimasu ka. | Have you ever coldly answered someone? |
な- adjectives / na- adjectives
Rule: stem + な (na) →stem + に (ni)
cleanきれいな (kirei na) →cleanly きれいに (kirei ni)
quietしずかな (shizuka na) →quietlyしずかに (shizuka ni)
famousゆうめいな (yuumei na) →famouslyゆうめいに (yuumei ni)
seriousまじめな(majime na)→seriously まじめに(majime ni)
For example,
がくせいはしけんのためにまじめにべんきょうします。 Gakusei wa shiken no tame ni majime ni benkyou shimasu. | (The) Student is seriously studying for the exam. |
かれはしずかにしごとしています。 Kare wa shizuka ni shigoto shimasu. | He is working quietly. |
Other Adverbs
If you want to describe how things happen, you can use the following adverbs of manner. These are called ほうほうのふくし (houhou no fukushi) in Japanese.
Note that these adverbs come before the main verb. The following adverbs of manner, which are not created from adjectives, are also commonly used in Japanese.
Japanese (Hiragana) | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|
いっしょに | issho ni | together |
ほんとうに | hontou ni | really |
ゆっくり | yukkuri | slowly |
とても | totemo | very |
だんだん | dandan | gradually |
ほとんど | hotondo | almost |
ひとりで | hitori de | alone |
ていねいに | teinei ni | carefully |
よく | yoku | well; good |
つぎつぎに | tsugitsugi ni | one after another |
For example,
かぞくといっしょににほんへいきます。 Kazoku to issho ni nihon e ikimasu. | I will go to Japan together with my family. |
だんだんすずしくなっていきます。 Dandan suzushiku natteikimasu. | It is getting cooler and cooler. |
ゆっくりはなしてください。 Yukkuri hanashite kudasai. | Please speak slowly. |
2. Japanese Adverbs of Frequency
In order to describe how often you do an action, you can add a frequency adverb in your sentence. These are called かいすうのふくし (kaisuu no fukushi) in Japanese.
This adverb is placed before a direct object or verb. Below are the commonly used adverbs of frequency in Japanese.
Japanese (Hiragana) | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|
まいにち | mainichi | every day |
いつも | itsumo | always |
ふつう/ふだん(は) | futsuu/fudan | usually |
たいてい | taitei | usually |
よく | yoku | often |
ときどき | tokidoki | sometimes |
たまに | tamani | occasionally |
あまり* | amari | not very often |
めったに* | mettani | seldom |
ぜんぜん* | zenzen | not at all |
*Sentence must be in negative form.
For example,
わたしはまいにちはやくおきます。 Watashi wa mainichi hayaku okimasu. | I get up early everyday. |
えいごはぜんぜんしゃべれません。 Eigo wa zenzen shaberemasen. | I can’t speak English at all. |
3. Japanese Adverb of Degree
These adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs depending on their magnitude or degree. Note that these adverbs can be placed anywhere in the sentence as long as it appears before the main verb.
Here are some of the commonly used adverb of degree used in Japanese.
Japanese (Hiragana | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|
じつに ほんとうに | jitsuni hontouni | indeed, really, actually; truly |
とても たいへん (-) | totemo taihen | very, exceedingly; terribly |
かなり | kanari | fairly, quite |
そうとう | soutou | extremely, considerably |
だいぶ | daibu | greatly, a lot |
なかなか | nakanaka | easily; by no means (with negative verb) |
そこそこ | sokosoko | reasonably, moderately |
あまり* たいして* | amari taishite | (not so) much; (not) very |
ぜんぜん* | zenzen | not at all; completely |
*Sentence must be in negative form.
For example:
きょうはほんとうにつかれました。 Kyou wa hontou ni tsukaremashita. | I’m really tired today. |
あのいぬはかなりふとってる。 Ano inu wa kanari futotteru. | That dog is quite fat. |
きょうはだいぶあたたかいです。 Kyou wa daibu atatakai desu. | It is pretty warm today. |
4. Adverb of Time
We use adverb of time to indicate when an action happens and its duration. These are called じかんのふくし (jikan no fukushi) in Japanese.
Japanese (Hiragana) | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|
いま | ima | now |
きょう | kyou | today |
こんや | konya | tonight |
けさ | kesa | this morning |
きのう | kinou | yesterday |
あした | ashita | tomorrow |
すでに | sudeni | already |
さいきん | saikin | recently; lately |
もうすぐ | mousugu | soon |
まだ | mada | still (if used in a positive sentence) / not yet (if used in a negative sentence) |
For example,
さいきんなにかおもしろいえいがをみましたか。 Saikin nanika omoshiroi eiga wo mimashita ka? | Have you seen any good movies recently? |
もうすぐあめがふるそうです。 | It is going to rain very soon. |
5. Level of Certainty
The following adverbs are used to expand on the extent of how actions, adjective, or even adverb the subject is talking about. These are adverbs for verbs.
Japanese (Hiragana) | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|
ぜったいに | zettai ni | definitely |
かならず | kanarazu | without exception; without fail; certainly |
たしかに | tashikani | surely |
きっと | kitto | surely; undoubtedly; most likely |
おそらく | osoraku | probably |
たぶん | tabun | maybe |
For example,
さんじまでにかならずきてください。 | Do not fail to come by 3 o’clock. |
ぜったいあそびにきてね。 | You’d better come visit. |
6. Amount
Adverbs for this particular kind are verb modifiers. It describes “how much” the word means, but not in number per se. These adverbs are placed before the main verb, or before the direct object.
Japanese (Hiragana) | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|
すべて、ぜんぶ | subete, zenbu | entirely, completely |
もっと | motto | even more, further |
もうすこし | mou sukoshi | a little more |
すっかり | sukkari | all, entirely, thoroughly |
たくさん | takusan | a lot, enough |
じゅうぶん | juubun | fully, sufficiently |
あま* | amari | not very |
ちょっと | chotto | slightly, a little |
ほとんど | hotondo | almost, practically |
ぜんぜん* | zenzen | never |
まあまあ | maamaa | so-so, passable |
*Sentence must be in negative form.
When you feel like the state is somehow disapproving or unfavorable, you can use the words ちょっと(chotto) or すこし(sukoshi). On the other hand, if you find the state favorable or passable, use the wordまあまあ (maamaa).
For example,
ジョンさんのにほんごはまあまあです。 Jon san no nihongo wa maamaa desu. | John’s Japanese is quiet good. |
かんじはちょっとむずかしいとおもいます。 Kanji wa chotto muzukashii to omoimasu. | I think kanji is a little difficult. |
7. Onomatopoeia
Among the unique features of Japanese language is the abundance of onomatopoeia. Like in any language, onomatopoeia in Japanese are created by imitating sounds.
However, there is more into that – Japanese use onomatopoeia to describe many things; each onomatopoeia may have various meanings with different usages.
Most mimetic words follows a particle と (to). Below are some of the onomatopoeic adverbs.
Japanese (Hiragana) | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|
ギリギリ | girigiri | just barely, at the last moment |
いらいら | iraira | irritatedly |
じろじろ | jirojiro | rudely, scrutinizing |
ビュンビュン | byunbyun | whirling quickly, moving quickly |
ワンワン | wanwan | arf arf (barking sound), waah-waah (crying sound) |
For example:
さとうさんはいらいらとびょういんにいきました。 | Satou went irritated to the hospital. |
かのじょはしゅうでんにぎりぎりまにあいました。 | She was just in time for the last train. |
みんなはかのじょをじろじろみました。 | Everyone stared at her. |
8. Other Adverbs
In addition to the adverbs mentioned above, here are the uncategorized but also commonly used words in Japanese. These adverbs usually can be placed before the direct object or main action word.
Japanese (Hiragana) | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|
なるべく | narubeku | as much as possible |
ようやく、やっと | youyaku, yatto | finally, at last, barely |
とうとう、ついに | toutou, tsuini | finally, ultimately |
むしろ | mushiro | rather, instead |
いちおう | ichiou | more or less, though not quite satisfactorily |
やっぱり、やはり | yappari, yahari | as expected, likewise, either way |
ますます | masumasu | increasingly |
For example,
たかくのぼるほど、ますますさむくなります。 | The higher we climb, the colder it becomes. |
ゆきさんはやっとじゅぎょうにまにあった。 | Yuki was just in time for class. |
いろいろなくにへいったが、やっぱりにほんが いちばんいい。 | I have visited many countries, but I like Japan best of all. |
Quick Recap
Now that you have learned Japanese adverbs, you can now add more color to your speech. You can pick up more words by reading manga, by watching anime or shows, or by engaging with natives or fellow learners.
