The 100 Most Useful Japanese Adverbs

On this page

Japanese adverbs add detail to verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. They are called 副詞（ふくし）, fukushi. Some expressions below are time nouns or adverbial phrases; learn them in context rather than assuming every item belongs to one strict grammatical class.

Adverbs usually come before the word or phrase they modify, but placement affects meaning and emphasis. Some use particles such as に or と; they cannot all be placed anywhere in a sentence.

Here are 100 numbered entries grouped by use, followed by adjective-to-adverb formation and example sentences. Some words appear in more than one group because their uses overlap.

100 Most Useful Adverbs

Adverb of Manner

English	Japanese	Romaji
1. deliciously	美味しく（おいしく）	oishiku
2. interestingly	面白く（おもしろく）	omoshiroku
3. coldly	冷たく（つめたく）	tsumetaku
4. easily	簡単に（かんたんに）	kantan ni
5. cleanly	きれいに	kirei ni
6. quietly	静かに（しずかに）	shizuka ni
7. widely	広く（ひろく）	hiroku
8. seriously	真面目に（まじめに）	majime ni
9. newly	新しく（あたらしく）	atarashiku
10. strongly	強く（つよく）	tsuyoku
11. weakly	弱く（よわく）	yowaku
12. early, quickly	早く（はやく）	hayaku
13. cutely, prettily	かわいく	kawaiku
14. eagerly	熱心に（ねっしんに）	nesshin ni
15. lively	元気に（げんきに）	genki ni
16. poorly	下手に（へたに）	heta ni
17. well; skillfully	上手に（じょうずに）	jōzu ni
18. expensively	高く（たかく）	takaku
19. cheaply	安く（やすく）	yasuku
20. painfully	痛く（いたく）	itaku

Time and Frequency

21. now	今（いま）	ima
22. today	今日（きょう）	kyou
23. tomorrow	明日（あした）	ashita
24. yesterday	昨日（きのう）	kinou
25. recently; lately	最近（さいきん）	saikin
26. soon	もうすぐ	mou sugu
27. already	すでに	sude ni
28. sometimes	時々（ときどき）	tokidoki
29. for awhile	暫く（しばらく）	shibaraku
30. in the end; ultimately	結局（けっきょく）	kekkyoku
31. first	最初に（さいしょに）	saisho ni
32. lastly	最後に（さいごに）	saigo ni
33. all along; continuously; much more (with a comparison)	ずっと	zutto
34. always	いつも	itsumo
35. already	もう	mou

Adverb of Degree

36. not much	あまり	amari
37. not at all	ぜんぜん	zenzen
38. greatly, a lot	だいぶ	daibu
39. quite (positive); not easily (negative)	なかなか	nakanaka
40. quite, fairly	かなり	kanari
41. very	とても	totemo
42. terribly	たいへん	taihen
43. indeed; truly	じつに	jitsuni
44. truly	本当に（ほんとうに）	hontou ni
45. considerably	相当（そうとう）	soutou

Adverb of Certainty

46. probably	たぶん	tabun
47. surely	確かに（たしかに）	tashika ni
48. surely; probably (strong expectation)	きっと	kitto
49. without exception, without fail	かならず	kanarazu
50. definitely	ぜったいに	zettai ni

Amount

51. mostly	ほとんど	hotondo
52. more	もっと	motto
53. usually	たいてい	taitei
54. sufficiently, fully	十分（じゅうぶん）	juubun
55. not much	あまり	amari
56. passable, so-so	まあまあ	maamaa
57. a lot; many	たくさん	takusan
58. entirely, thoroughly	すっかり	sukkari
59. not at all	ぜんぜん	zenzen
60. a little more	もう少し（もうすこし）	mou sukoshi
61. a little, slightly	ちょっと	chotto

Sound Words and Mimetic Expressions

62. individually, apart	べつべつ	betsu betsu
63. much more; not yet	まだまだ	mada mada
64. sloppy	ぐちゃぐちゃ	gucha gucha
65. absurd, incoherent, extreme	めちゃくちゃ	mecha kucha
66. sparkling; glistening	キラキラ	kirakira
67. barking sound (arf arf)	ワンワン	wanwan
68. just barely, at the last moment	ギリギリ	giri giri
69. moving quickly	ビュンビュン	byun byun
70. staring, scrutinizing	じろじろ	jiro jiro
71. irritated	イライラ	ira ira
72. rapidly, steadily	どんどん	don don
73. one after another, in succession	つぎつぎに	tsugi tsugi ni
74. slowly, lazily	のろのろ	noronoro
75. energetically, lively	きびきび	kibikibi

Other Adverbs

76. as it is, without change	そのまま	sono mama
77. here and there, everywhere	アチコチ	achikochi
78. especially, particularly	特に（とくに）	toku ni
79. rather	むしろ	mushiro
80. freely, leisurely	のんびり	nonbiri
81. besides	さらに	sarani
82. after	後で（あとで）	ato de
83. before	前に（まえに）	mae ni
84. again	再び（ふたたび）	futatabi
85. a short while ago; earlier	さきほど	sakihodo
86. carefully	丁寧に（ていねいに）	teinei ni
87. alone	一人で（ひとりで）	hitori de
88. gradually	だんだん	dandan
89. slowly	ゆっくり	yukkuri
90. together	一緒に（いっしょに）	issho ni
91. suddenly	突然（とつぜん）	totsuzen
92. increasingly, more and more	益々（ますます）	masumasu
93. as expected; after all	やっぱり、やはり	yappari, yahari
94. ultimately, finally	ついに、とうとう	tsuini, toutou
95. as much as possible	なるべく	narubeku
96. tentatively; for now; at least	いちおう	ichiō
97. barely, at last	やっと、ようやく	yatto, youyaku
98. I see; that makes sense	なるほど	naruhodo
99. directly, personally	直接（ちょくせつ）	chokusetsu
100. in other words	つまり	tsumari

Conjugation and Sentence Patterns

Adverb of Manner

Adverbs of manner describe how an action happens. Many are formed from adjectives, while words such as ゆっくり have their own adverbial forms.

For adjective-derived adverbs, change the adjective ending as follows. The adjective いい is irregular: its adverbial form is よく.

For い-adjectives, replace final い with く. For な-adjectives, add に to the stem; な is used before nouns, not retained before に.

い-adjectives / i- adjectives: stem + い (i)　→     stem + く(ku)

な- adjectives / na- adjectives: stem + な (na)      →stem + に (ni)

SUBJECT は| DIRECT OBJECT を | ADVERB | VERB。

For example, 

• おいしい → おいしく (oishiku). ははがしょくじをおいしくつくりました。 Haha ga shokuji o oishiku tsukurimashita. Mother made a delicious meal.
• まじめな　→　まじめに (majime ni) – seriouslyがくせいはしけんのためにまじめにべんきょうしています。Students are studying seriously  for the exam.Gakusei wa shiken no tame ni majime ni  benkyō shite imasu.

Using other adverbs of manner that did not derive from adjectives: 

SUBJECT は| ADVERB |DIRECT OBJECT を| VERB。

• ゆっくり (yukkuri)　– slowly かのじょはゆっくりとしゅくだいをしました。She took her time doing her homework.Kanojo wa yukkuri to shukudai wo shimashita.
• 次々（つぎつぎ）or tsugitsugi – one after anotherわたしはつぎつぎとページをめくりました。I turned page after page.Watashi wa tsugi tsugi to pe-ji wo mekurimashita.

Time and Frequency

Time expressions tell when something happens; frequency expressions tell how often. Their position depends on what they modify.

SUBJECT は/が |ADVERB | ADVERB OR VERB。

• まいにち(mainichi) – every day わたしはまいにちはやくおきます。I get up early every day.Watashi wa mainichi hayaku okimasu.
• ぜんぜん(zenzen) – not at allフランスごはぜんぜんしゃべれません。I can’t speak French at all. Furansugo wa zenzen shaberemasen.

Adverb of Degree

These adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs depending on their magnitude or degree.

Place the adverb before the word or phrase it modifies. Finish with the appropriate verb, adjective or noun ending.

• とても(totemo) – veryかんじはとてもむずかしいです。Kanji is very difficult.Kanji wa totemo muzukashii desu.
• あまり(あまり) – not muchやさいはあまりすきじゃないです。I don’t like vegetables that much.Yasai wa amari suki janai desu.

Adverb of Certainty

Certainty expressions show how confident the speaker is about a statement. Choose the verb or adjective ending appropriate to the sentence; です is not added to every verb.

SUBJECT は| ADVERB |DIRECT OBJECT を| VERB。

• かならず（kanarazu）- without failねるまえにかならずあかりをけしなさいDo not forget to put out the lights  before you sleep.Neru mae ni kanarazu akari wo keshinasai.

ADVERB | SUBJECT は/が |PREDICATE | です/ だ / だろう。

• たぶん(tabun) – probably たぶんかれはこのしごとがすきだろう。He probably likes his job.Tabun kare wa kono shigoto ga suki darou.
• たしかに(tashika ni) – certainly やまださんはたしかにあたまがいいです。Yamada is certainly smart.Yamada-san wa tashika ni atama ga ii desu.

Amount

Amount expressions such as たくさん tell how much or how many. Other expressions here, such as ちょっと, indicate degree, and たいてい indicates frequency.

SUBJECT は|DIRECT OBJECT を| ADVERB |  VERB。

• たくさん(takusan) – a lot かれはあまいものをたくさんたべました。He ate a lot of sweets.Kare wa amai mono wo takusan tabemashita.

Place the adverb before the word or phrase it modifies. Finish with the appropriate verb, adjective or noun ending.

• ちょっと(chotto) – a littleあのパソコンはちょっとたかいです。That computer is a little expensive.Ano pasokon wa chotto takai desu.

Sound Words and Mimetic Expressions

Japanese has sound-imitating words and mimetic expressions for movements, feelings and states. Many can be used with と, but whether と is natural or optional depends on the expression and construction.

Place the adverb before the word or phrase it modifies. Finish with the appropriate verb, adjective or noun ending.

• めちゃくちゃ(mechakucha) – extremelyきょうはめちゃくちゃさむい。Today is extremely cold.Kyou wa mechakucha samui.
• キラキラ(kira kira) – glistening, twinklingほしがそらにきらきらかがやいています。The stars are twinkling in the sky.Hoshi ga sora ni kira kira kagayaite imasu.

SUBJECT は | ADVERB と|DESTINATION に|  VERB。

• イライラ(iraira) – irritatedゆみさんはイライラとがっこうにいきました。Yumi went irritated to school.Yumi- san wa iraira to gakkō ni ikimashita.

SUBJECT は|DIRECT OBJECT を| ADVERB |  VERB。

• じろじろ(jirojiro) – stareみんなはかのじょをじろじろみました。Everyone stared at her.Minna wa kanojo wo jirojiro mimashita.

Other Adverbs

Here are the possible sentence patterns that you may follow for uncategorized adverbs:

SUBJECT は | ADVERB |DESTINATION に|  VERB。

• やっと(yatto) – barelyあきさんはやっとめんせつにまにあった。 Aki barely made it to her interview.Aki-san wa yatto mensetsu ni maniatta.
• 一緒に (いっしょに) or issho ni – together かぞくといっしょににほんにいきたい。 I want to go with my family to Japan.Kazoku to issho ni nihon ni ikitai. 

Topic は + complement with its appropriate particle + adverb + verb. を marks many direct objects; に has different roles.

• そのまま（sono mama）– as it is へやをそのままにしておきなさい。Leave the room as it is.Heya wo sono mama ni shite okinasai.
• ふたたび（futatabi）– again あなたにふたたびあえてうれしい。I am glad to see you again.Anata ni futatabi aete ureshii.

Place the adverb before the word or phrase it modifies. Finish with the appropriate verb, adjective or noun ending.

• ひとりで(hitori de) – aloneびじゅつかんにひとりでいきました。I went alone to the art museum.Bijutsukan ni hitori de ikimashita.

Now that you have learned Japanese adverbs and how to conjugate them, you can now add colors to your speech! Try practicing these by talking about your recent travel, movie experience, or even how your day went yesterday.

Usage note: あまり and ぜんぜん commonly accompany negative predicates in beginner examples. ぜんぜん also occurs with positive expressions in conversational Japanese. なかなか can mean “quite” positively and “not easily” with a negative predicate.