Once you have a solid understanding of
Japanese sentence structure, one of the easiest ways to add a bit more
description to your sentences is with the use of adverbs.
Most adverbs(※There are some adverbs no) are related to adjectives with a similar
meaning, and if you know one, it’s easy to figure out the other. The same is
true in English, where many adjectives can be turned into adverbs by changing
them slightly to end in “ly” (eg. quickly, easily, quietly etc.).
In Japanese, with only a couple of
exceptions, we can convert adjectives into adverbs by doing one of two things,
depending on the type of adjective we’re dealing with. Here’s how:
As you can see, i-adjectives can be
turned into adverbs by changing the “i” to “ku”, while for
na-adjectives, we just replace the “na” with “ni”.
If you are not familiar
with i-adjectives and na-adjectives, see this article: Adjectives
Also, we mustn’t forget one of the most
common adjectives, “いい”.
This is also takes the form “yoi”, and when
converting to an adverb, this is the form we must use as follows:
Good → well, often
いい / よい → よく
As noted above, “yoku” can also mean “often”, and regardless
of its meaning, it is usually written in hiragana, not kanji.
Modifying adjectives
When an adverb is adding a description or emphasis to an adjective or a verb, it will usually appear immediately before the word it’s modifying.
Winters are quite cold.
ふゆ は かなり さむい です。
I read a very interesting book.
わたしはとても おもしろい ほん を よみました。
The next sentence can therefore be expressed in either of the following ways:
He ran to school quickly. / He quickly ran to school.
かれ は はやくがっこう へ はしりました。
かれ は がっこう へ はやく はしりました
common adverb chart
|
adverbs
of time
|
|
yesterday
|
きのう
|
|
today
|
きょう
|
|
tomorrow
|
あした
|
|
now
|
いま
|
|
then
|
それから
|
|
later
|
あとで
|
|
tonight
|
こんや
|
|
last night
|
さくや
|
|
this morning
|
けさ
|
|
next week
|
らいしゅう
|
|
already
|
もう/すでに
|
|
recently
|
さいきん
|
|
soon、immediately
|
すぐに
|
|
still
|
まだ
|
|
yet
|
まだ
|
|
ago
|
まえ
|
|
adverbs of place
|
|
here
|
ここ
|
|
there
|
そこ
|
|
over there
|
あそこ
|
|
everywhere
|
どこでも
|
|
anywhere
|
どこか
|
|
nowhere
|
どこにも~ない
|
|
home
|
うち
|
|
away
|
はなれて
|
|
out
|
そとで
|
|
adverbs of manner
|
|
Very/
quite
|
とても/すごく/かなり
|
|
a bit
|
すこし/ちょっと
|
|
many
|
たくさん
|
|
more
|
もっと
|
|
really
|
ほんとうに
|
|
Fast, quickly
|
はやく
|
|
well
|
よく
|
|
hard
|
はげしく/ いっしょうけんめい
|
|
slowly
|
ゆっくり
|
|
hardly
|
ほとんど~ない (used with negative
adjectives/verbs)
|
|
Not very
|
あまり~ない (used with negative adjectives/verbs)
|
|
almost
|
ほとんど
|
|
absolutely
|
ぜったいに
|
|
together
|
いっしょに
|
|
alone
|
ひとりで
|
|
adverbs of frequency
|
|
always
|
いつも
|
|
usually
|
たいてい
|
|
sometimes
|
ときどき
|
|
occasionally
|
たまに
|
|
seldom
|
めったに(used with negative adjectives/verbs)
|
|
rarely
|
まれに
|
|
never
|
けして(used with negative adjectives/verbs)
|
|
Not at all
|
ぜんぜん(used with negative
adjectives/verbs)
|
|
Every week
Every months
Every years
|
まいしゅう
まいつき
まいとし
|
Exercises Frequency adverbs Frequenccy adverbs review Frequency adverbs from genki 1 work book
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