Japanese Adverbs

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 yasui hayai cheap quick Adverb yasuku hayaku cheaply quickly

tanoshii enjoyable ii good

tanoshiku enjoyably yoku well (Irregular, based on the alternate form yoi of ii )

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 shizuka(na) quiet kantan(na) simple Adverb shizuka ni quietly kantan ni simply

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 are a few examples. (There are some derived from -na adjectives, and sometimes words are really nouns). kinou amari sukoshi sukunai kyou bakkari tabun ashita chotto taihen mainichi ikaga takusan maiasa itsumo tokidoki ima mata totemo yagate mou yukkuri sugu motto zenzen mada yesterday not much a little a few today only perhaps tomorrow a little very every day how a lot every morning always sometimes now again very soon already slowly inmediately more at all (with negative verbs) yet, still

 , ,

nakanaka hotondo hakkiri dondon metta ni totsuzen sotto kitto sara ni sorosoro masumasu mae ni ato de nochi sakihodo, sakki sassato futatabi somosomo sudeni sukkari toku ni toriaezu aikawarazu kakawarazu wazawaza kanarazu ippan ni daijoubu ni hitori de

completely almost clearly quickly seldom suddenly smoothly, softly certainly besides gradually more and more before after later until recently quickly again in the first place already, too late completely specially at once as ever despite on purpose certainly, without failure generally OK alone