Japanese adverbs are used to add colors to your speech – these answer questions on when, where, how, or why an action or circumstance happens. Like in English, Japanese adverbs add description to verbs, adjectives, and even adverbs. These are called 福祉（ふくし）or fukushi in Japanese.
Generally, these adverbs do not need particles and can be placed anywhere in a sentence as long as it appears before the main action word.
In this article, we will be listing and categorizing 100 of the most useful Japanese adverbs, as well as how these words are conjugated and used in sentences.
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 | 易しく（やさしく） | yasashiku |
5. cleanly | きれいに | kirei ni |
6. quietly | 静かに（しずかに） | shizuka ni |
7. famously | 有名に（ゆうめいに） | yuumei ni |
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. good, well | 上手に（じょうずに） | jyouzu 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 |
Adverb of 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. eventually | 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. forever | 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. easily, by no means | 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 | じつに | jistuni |
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. undoubtedly | 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. plenty, enough | 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 |
Onomatopoeia
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 | iraira |
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. until | 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. likewise, as expected | 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. instead, rather | いちおう | ichiou |
97. barely, at last | やっと、ようやく | yatto, youyaku |
98. indeed | ナルホド | 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
Japanese adverbs of manner – which are called方法の福祉（ほうほうのふくし）or houhou no fukushi in Japanese – are used to describe how things happen.
Most of these can be formed from adjectives by changing its endings.
To change い- (i-) adjectives, drop final -い(-i) and add く(ku). Meanwhile, for な- (na-) adjectives, change final な (na) to に (ni).
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,
Using other adverbs of manner that did not derive from adjectives:
SUBJECT は| ADVERB |DIRECT OBJECT を| VERB。
Adverb of Frequency
These adverbs are used tell how often you do an action. This is usually placed before the main action word or another adverb.
SUBJECT は/が |ADVERB | ADVERB OR VERB。
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Adverb of Degree
These adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs depending on their magnitude or degree.
SUBJECT は/が |ADVERB | PREDICATE (ADJ, NOUN, OR VERB) です。
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Adverb of Certainty
Adverbs under this kind are used to expand on the extent of how actions, adjective, or even another adverb the subject is talking about. Below are the possible sentence patterns that you may follow.
SUBJECT は| ADVERB |DIRECT OBJECT を| VERB。
ADVERB | SUBJECT は/が |PREDICATE | です/ だ / だろう。
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Amount
Adverbs under this category are verb modifiers – they tell “how much” the word means, but not in quantity per se.
SUBJECT は|DIRECT OBJECT を| ADVERB | VERB。
SUBJECT は/が |ADVERB | PREDICATE (ADJ, NOUN, OR VERB) です。
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Onomatopoeia
These unique adverbs are mostly formed by imitating sounds, and are used to describe several things – each mimetic word has various meanings with different usages. These words are usually followed by particle と (to).
SUBJECT は/が |LOCATION に|ADVERB | PREDICATE (ADJ, NOUN, OR VERB) です。
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SUBJECT は | ADVERB と|DESTINATION に| VERB。
SUBJECT は|DIRECT OBJECT を| ADVERB | VERB。
Other Adverbs
Here are the possible sentence patterns that you may follow for uncategorized adverbs:
SUBJECT は | ADVERB |DESTINATION に| VERB。
SUBJECT は|DIRECT OBJECT を/に| ADVERB | VERB。
SUBJECT は/が |DESTINATION に|ADVERB | PREDICATE (ADJ, NOUN, OR VERB) 。
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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.
