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 | |
| 楽しい | tanoshii | enjoyable | 楽しく | tanoshiku | enjoyably | |
| 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 list provides a few examples. (Note: there are some on this list derived from -na adjectives, and some of the time 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, whitout fail |
| 一般に | ippan ni | generally |
| 大丈夫に | daijoubu ni |
OK |
| 一人で | hitori de | alone |
This page is edited by the StudyJapanese.org Team, based on a part of “Some Notes on Japanese Grammar” published for your personal use, with the kind permission of Keith Smillie (http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~smillie/)
Related posts:
4:51 am on August 20th, 2010
The adverbs that are a must in your vocabulary!
Treasure!
10:50 pm on November 12th, 2009
clears it up for me
1:11 pm on May 13th, 2009
confusing!
12:45 am on April 14th, 2009
it’ll just need a bit more lead. but it is useful… so ありがと!