Japanese Adverbs modifying other adverbs : Honestly speaking, there are so many adverbs in the Japanese language and it would be quite difficult to fit all of that in three blogs. We have compiled the most common adverbs so hopefully, you study and utilize most of them. 日本語の勉強をあきらめないでください！(Nihongo no benkyou wo akiraminaide kudasai: Please don’t give up studying Japanese)
Contents
Quick recap
In our previous 2 blogs about ふくし(fukushi: adverbs), we have talked about the different functions and different types of adverbs we have in the Japanese language. Adverbs are words that modify adjectives, verbs, and even other adverbs to help the speaker elaborate their feelings and descriptions more. Much similar to the English language, we have loads of them!
We’ll try to discuss as much as we can and hopefully, with this being our last part of the 3 part blog series, we have taught and explained enough about adverbs to you that you can use one or more words featured here in your Japanese conversations! できれば、日本語の会話を練習してください。(Dekireba, Nihongo no kaiwa wo renshuu shite kudasai: If you can, please practice Japanese conversation)
More Japanese adverbs of degree
In our previous blog, we have discussed 2 other adverbs focusing on the degree of the word it is modifying. We have discussed adverbs of degree(intensity) and level of certainty. We will discuss a few more today so please read our previous blog if you haven’t yet!
Japanese Adverbs : Amount
For this particular adverb, the type itself is very self explanatory. It modifies verbs by describing how much the word you are talking about is. In this case, not necessarily mentioning the number, but an approximation. This adverb is usually found before the verb or before the direct object you are trying to modify. We’ll give you examples for each adverb so please try making your own sentences as well for practice!
| English | Romaji | Japanese |
| More | Motto | もっと |
| A bit more, more, another | Mou Chotto Mou Sukoshi | もうちょっと もう少し |
| Entirely, wholly, all、everything | Subete Zenbu | 全て 全部 |
| Completely, thoroughly | Sukkari | すっかり |
| A lot, many | Takusan | たくさん |
| Enough, sufficiently | Jyuubun | 十分 |
| Not very | Amari | あまり* |
| A little, a few | Sukoshi | 少し |
| Just a little, a little | Chotto | ちょっと |
| Mostly, nearly, almost, hardly | Hotondo | ほとんど* |
| Not at all | Zenzen | 全然* |
もっと時間が必要だ。
Motto jikan ga hitsuyou da.
I need more time.
もうちょっとゆっくり言ってください。
Mou Chotto yukkuri itte kudasai.
Could you please speak a little bit more slowly?
明かりが全て消えた。
Akari ga subete kieta.
All the lights turned off/went out.
彼女はすっかり病気から回復した。
Kanojo wa sukkari byouki kara kaifuku shita.
She has completely recovered from her illness.
私の先生は本をたくさん持っている。
Watashi no sensei wa hon wo takusan motteiru.
My teacher has a lot of books.
旅行に十分お金がありますか？
Ryokou ni jyuubun okane ga arimasuka?
Do you have enough money for the trip?
私のお母さんはあまりお酒を飲まな。
Watashi no okaasan wa amari osake wo nomanai.
My mother doesn't drink alcohol very much.
彼は少し疲れた。
Kare wa sukoshi tsukareta.
He is a little tired.
彼はちょっと顔色が悪い。
Kare wa chotto kao iro ga warui.
He looks a little pale.
ペンはほとんどない。
Pen wa hotondo nai.
They hardly have pens.
彼らは全然興味を持っていない。
Karera wa zenzen kyoumi wo motteimasen.
They are not interested at all.
*Words in asterisks should only be used with the negative form of the word they are modifying
Others
Like we said earlier, there are so many adverbs out there! There are some adverbs that cannot be categorized and we will show you some of them below. Although uncategorized, the functions are the same and still has the purpose of elaborating and modifying. Below are a few samples.
| English | Romaji | Japanese |
| As much as possible | Narubeku | なるべく |
| More or less | Ichiou | 一応 |
| At last | Youyaku Yatto | ようやく やっと |
| Finally | Toutou Tsuini | とうとう ついに |
| Rather | Mushiro | むしろ |
| Increasingly, more and more | Masumasu | ますます |
| Too, likewise, still, even so, either way, as expected, typically, in any event, after all | Yahari Yappari | やはり やっぱり |
なるべく安いほうがいいです。
Narubeku yasui hou ga ii.
As much as possible, I would like a cheap one.
一応返事があります。
Ichiou henji wa arimasu.
More or less, there was a reply.
私はやっと宿題が終わった。
Watashi wa yatto shukudai ga owatta.
I finished my homework at last.
私の友達はついに結婚しました。
Watashi no tomodachi wa tsuini kekkon shimashita.
My friend finally got married.
彼女はきれいというよりむしろかわいいです。
Kanojo wa kirei to iu yori mushiro kawaii desu
She is rather cute than beautiful.
彼はますます日本語上手になった。
Kare wa masumasu nihongo jouzu ni natta.
He became increasingly good at Japanese.
疲れているが、やっぱり勉強するつもりです。
Tsukareteiru ga, yappari benkyou suru tsumori desu.
I am tired but I'm still going to study either way.
Adverbs modifying other adverbs
After Based off on what we have learned so far, we know that adverbs can modify verbs and adjectives. We are now ready to try modifying other adverbs with adverbs! It isn’t as complicated as you would think.
A few common examples that we have of adverbs modifying adverbs in English is “very quickly” and “quite cute”. Based on those examples, we can come to a conclusion that adverbs can modify adverbs in the situation where an adverb of degree can be paired up with a descriptive adverb. Please look at the examples below and keep on practicing because we will end our three part adverb blog series here. Study hard and keep on practicing!
もうちょっと真面目に勉強してください。
Mou chotto majime ni benkyoushite kudasai.
Please study a bit more seriously.
彼女はいつもきれいに歌を歌います。
Kanojo wa itsumo kirei ni uta wo utaimasu.
She always sings songs beautifully.
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