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Top 100 Common Japanese Adverbs

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It’s impossible to explain something in detail without using adverbs. These are words which can efficiently express time, frequency, place, manner, degree, and more. When you want to boost your language skills, learning adverbs is important and inevitable.

Just like those in other languages, there are a variety of Japanese adverbs and they’re frequently used in sentences. Japanese adverbs are quite similar to English adverbs, though there are some differences to keep in mind. For example, Japanese adverbs are classified in categories according to their characteristics, and they’re placed in different positions in a sentence depending on how they’re used. But don’t worry! The rules are quite simple, and you’ll get the hang of them over time! 

In this article, JapanesePod101.com will provide you with:

  • A Japanese adverbs list containing 100 useful Japanese adverbs
  • Explanations of how to use Japanese adverbs
  • Examples of Japanese adverbs in sentences

Let’s get started!

Log in to Download Your Free Cheat Sheet - Useful Verbs in Japanese Table of Contents
  1. The Adverb in Japanese: An Introduction
  2. Japanese Adverbs List
  3. How Do You Use Adverbs in Japanese Sentences?
  4. Conclusion: How JapanesePod101 Can Help You Learn More Japanese
Easter Eggs and Springtime Flowers

When you learn Japanese adverbs, your conversation will be colorful and rich in expression.

1. The Adverb in Japanese: An Introduction

1 – What is the Function of Japanese Adverbs?

An adverb, or 副詞 (fukushi), is not an independent class of word, as it’s always used with other words. Adverbs are similar to adjectives in that they both modify words. However, adverbs modify verbs, or 動詞 (dōshi), adjectives, or 形容詞 (keiyōshi), and other adverbs, while adjectives only modify nouns, called 名詞 (meishi).

Japanese adverbs, unlike those in English, can appear anywhere in a sentence when they’re used before verbs. 

2 – The Classifications and Types of Japanese Adverbs 

1. Derived from Adjectives

Most adverbs are linked to adjectives that share similar meanings. By changing a part of an adjective, we can turn it into an adverb. You can also see this rule applied in English. For example: “first” / “kind” / “happy” (Adjectives)  >>> “firstly” / “kindly” / “happily” (Adverbs).

In most cases, it’s easy to change Japanese adjectives to adverbs. There are two types of conjugations here.

  • Modification of Japanese い (i) Adjectives

An い (i) adjective always ends with い (i).

By changing the final い (i) to く (ku), an adjective will turn into an adverb.

Example:

い (i) Adjective

[ Stem + い (i) ]
Adverb

[ Stem + く(ku) ]
悲し
kanashii  
“sad”
悲し
kanashiku  
“sadly”

takai  
“high”

takaku  
“highly”

marui 
“round”

maruku 
“roundly”
  • Modification of Japanese な (na) Adjectives

A な (na) adjective always ends with な (na) when it comes before a noun.

Changing な (na) to に (ni) will convert a な (na) adjective into an adverb.

Example:

Adjective

[ Stem + な (na) ]
Adverb

[ Stem + に (ni) ]
親切
shinsetsu na 
“kind”
親切
shinsetsu ni   
“kindly”
静か
shizuka na  
“quiet”
静か
shizuka ni  
“quietly”
簡単
kantan na   
“easy”
簡単
kantan ni  
“easily”

For more information about Japanese adjectives, please visit 50 Most Common Adjectives.

  • Other Non-Adjectival Adverbs

There are also Japanese adverbs which are not related to adjectives. Such adverbs do not have a particular pattern to identify them with, so you have to remember each vocabulary term. The good thing is that they’re used in the same way as other adverbs.

Non-adjectival adverbs are often seen among adverbs of frequency, time, and place, which we’ll explain in the following sections.

2. Classification of Japanese Adverbs

Japanese adverbs are classified into different categories, including Time, Frequency, Place, Manner, and Degree. Although it’s not so important to know which adverbs belong to what category, it is useful if you know them for more accurate usage.

Now let’s see various Japanese adverbs from each category! 

Chirashizushi Dish for the Japanese Doll’s Festival, Hinamatsuri

Chirashizushi wa kantan ni tsukuremasu. = “You can make Chirashizushi easily.”

簡単に (Kantan ni) is an adverb.

2. Japanese Adverbs List

1 – Japanese Adverbs of Time

Japanese time adverbs indicate when something happens, has happened, or will happen.

MeaningReadingKanjiHiragana
1“today”kyō今日きょう
2“yesterday”kinō昨日きのう
3“tomorrow”ashita明日あした
4“this morning”kesa今朝けさ
5“tonight”kon’ya今夜こんや
6“now”imaいま
7“later”ato de後であとで
8“soon”sugu niすぐに
9“right now”ima sugu ni今すぐにいますぐに
10“previously”mae ni前にまえに
11“recently”saikin最近さいきん
12“someday”itsukaいつか
13“yet”madaまだ

2 – Japanese Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency are used when describing how often an action takes place.

MeaningReadingKanjiHiragana
14“always”itsumoいつも
15“sometimes”tokidoki時々ときどき
16“often”yokuよく
17“rarely”tama niたまに
18“seldom”metta niめったに
*used only with negative forms
19“probably”tabun多分たぶん
20“likely”osorakuおそらく
21“normally”tsūjō通常つうじょう
22“(not) at all”zenzen (-nai) *全然 (ーない) *ぜんぜん(ーない) *
23“never”kesshite  (-nai) *決して (ーない) *けっして(ーない) *
24“definitely,” “inevitably”kanarazu必ずかならず
25“daily,” “every day”mainichi毎日まいにち
26“weekly,” “every week”maishū毎週まいしゅう
27“monthly,” “every month”maitsuki毎月まいつき
28“annually,” “every year”maitoshi毎年まいとし
29“every time”maikai毎回まいかい

* 全然 (ーない) [zenzen (-nai)]  and 決して (ーない) [kesshite (-nai)] are the negative forms which are usually used together with -ない (-nai).

For example:

  • 私は全然気にしない
    Watashi wa zenzen ki ni shinai.  
    “I don’t care at all.”
  • 彼女は決して肉を食べない
    Kanojo wa kesshite niku o tabenai
    “She never eats meat.”
Woman Refusing a Piece of Meat at a Barbecue

Kanojo wa kesshite niku o tabenai. = “She never eats meat.”

決して (kesshite), meaning “never,” is an adverb.

3 – Japanese Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of place indicate where an action takes place.

MeaningReadingKanjiHiragana
30“here”kokoここ
31“there”sokoそこ
32“there,” “over there”asokoあそこ
33“over here,” “this way”kotchiこっち
34“over there,” “that way”atchiあっち
35“somewhere”doko kaどこか
36“anywhere”doko demoどこでも
37“inside”naka de中でなかで
38“outside”soto de外でそとで
39“away”hanarete離れてはなれて
40“near,” “close by”chikaku ni近くにちかくに
41“(at) home”ie de家でいえで
The Tokyo Tower

Watashi no kaisha chikaku ni Tōkyō Tawā ga arimasu. 

= “There is Tokyo Tower close to my company.”   

近くに (chikaku ni), meaning “close,” is an adverb.

4 – Japanese Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner describe the condition of a thing or how an action is performed. Adverbs which are related to adjectives mostly fall in this category. Keep in mind that some Japanese adverbs don’t have direct translations in English.

 MeaningReadingKanjiHiragana
42“slowly”yukkuriはやく
43“fast”hayaku早く/速くすばやく
44“quickly”subayaku素早くおそく
45“late,” “tardily”osoku遅く
46“quietly”shizuka ni静かにしずかに
47“enjoyably,” “merrily”tanoshiku楽しくたのしく
48“interestingly,” “amusingly”omoshiroku面白くおもしろく
49“noisily,” “loudly”urusakuうるさく
50“simultaneously,” “at the same time”ichi-do ni一度にいちどに
51“easily”kantan ni簡単にかんたんに
52“well”yoku良くよく
53“badly”waruku悪くわるく
54“together”issho ni一緒にいっしょに
55“alone”hitori de一人でひとりで
56“by chance,” “accidentally”gūzen ni偶然にぐうぜんに
57“suddenly”kyū ni急にきゅうに
58“largely,” “greatly”ōkiku大きくおおきく
59“small”chiisaku小さくちいさく
60“newly”atarashiku新しくあたらしく
61“old”furuku古くふるく
62“beautifully,” “neatly,” “cleanly”kirei ni綺麗にきれいに
63“dirtily”kitanaku汚くきたなく
64“kindly”shinsetsu ni親切にしんせつに
65“cheerily,” “lively”genki ni元気にげんきに
66“conveniently”benri ni便利にべんりに
67“hotly”astuku暑くあつく
68“coldly”samuku寒くさむく
69“difficultly”muzukashiku難しくむずかしく
70“gently”yasashiku優しくやさしく
71“highly,” “high,” “expensive”takaku高くたかく
72“low”hikuku低くひくく
73“cheaply,” “inexpensively”yasuku安くやすく
74“getting along well with”nakayoku仲良くなかよく
75“boring”tsumaranakuつまらなく
76“brightly”akaruku明るくあかるく
77“dark,” “darkly”kuraku暗くくらく
78“hard,” “fastly,” “firmly”kataku硬く・固くかたく
79“softly”yawarakaku柔らかくやわらかく
80“red”*akaku*赤くあかく
81“white”*shiroku*白くしろく
82“blue”*aoku*青くあおく
83“yellow”*kiiroku*黄色くきいろく
84“brown”*chairoku*茶色くちゃいろく
85“black”*kuroku*黒くくろく

*There are adverbs for colors in Japanese, but there are no equivalent words in English for adverbs of color.

In Japanese, these color adverbs are transformed from い (i) adjectives.

  •  (akai)  >> 赤 (akaku)
  • (shiroi) >> 白 (shiroku)
  • (kuroi)  >> 黒 (kuroku)

Here’s an example:

私は髪を黒く染めた。
Watasih wa kami o kuroku someta. 
“I dyed my hair black.”

Close-up of Someone Playing a Guitar at a Concert

Hitori de konsāto e itta. = “I went to the concert alone.”

一人で (hitori de), “meaning alone,” is an adverb.

5 – Japanese Adverbs of Degree

More Essential Verbs

Adverbs of degree indicate the degree or extent of a thing, situation, or action.

MeaningReadingKanjiHiragana
86“very”totemoとても
87“quite”kanariかなり
88“pretty,” “way”sōtō ni相当にそうとうに
89“terribly”hidoku酷くひどく
90“plenty,” “much,” “many”takusan沢山たくさん
91“slightly,” “barely,” “only”wazukani僅かにわずかに
92“largely,” “nearly,” “mostly”hotondoほとんど
93“about,” “roughly,” “more or less”hoboほぼ
94“a little,” “a bit,” “a few”sukoshi少しすこし
95“truly,” “really”hontō ni本当にほんとうに
96“strongly”tsuyoku強くつよく
97“weakly”yowaku弱くよわく
98“much,” “greatly,” “highly”daibu大分だいぶ
99“mostly”daitai大体だいたい
100“just,” “right,” “precisely,” “exactly”chōdo丁度ちょうど
A Japanese Family Taking a Family Photo on a Bridge

Watashi wa kazoku ga totemo daisuki desu. = “I like my family very much.” 

とても (totemo), meaning “very,” is an adverb.

3. How Do You Use Adverbs in Japanese Sentences?

Top Verbs

In terms of Japanese adverb placement, most of them can appear anywhere in a sentence, but they should come before the verb.

Let’s take a look at some examples of Japanese adverbs in sentences.

  • 私は後で宿題をする。
    Watashi wa ato de shukudai o suru.  
    “I will do my homework later.”

後で (ato de), meaning “later,” is an adverb. In Japanese, this can also be placed at the front of the sentence or in front of the verb する (suru), meaning “to do.” 

  •  時々彼は参拝に行きます。
    Tokidoki kare wa sanpai ni ikimasu.  
    “He sometimes goes to visit a shrine.”

時々 (tokidoki) is an adverb, and it can also appear in front of 参拝に (sanpai ni), meaning “to visit a shrine,” or in front of 行きます (ikimasu), meaning “goes.”

  • 近くに本屋はありますか。
    Chikaku ni hon’ya wa arimasu ka.  
    “Is there a bookstore nearby?” 

近くに (chikaku ni), meaning “nearby,” is an adverb. It can be placed in front of ありますか (arimasu ka), meaning “is there.”

  • 台風は素早く過ぎ去った。
    Taifū wa subayaku sugisatta. 
    “The typhoon passed by quickly.”

素早く (subayaku), meaning “quickly,” is an adverb, and it can also appear at the front of the sentence.

  • 本当に彼を信じますか。
    Hontō ni kare o shinjimasu ka.  
    “Do you really believe him?”

本当に (hontō ni), meaning “really,” is an adverb. It can also be put in front of 信じます (shinjimasu), meaning “believe.”

4. Conclusion: How JapanesePod101 Can Help You Learn More Japanese

In this article, we introduced you to Japanese adverbs. There are many adverbs in the Japanese language, and they’re just as rich in expression as adjectives. However, if you already know a lot of Japanese adjectives, then don’t worry! You can easily learn many adjective-transformed adverbs! Or vice-versa; once you learn Japanese adverbs, you can also learn the adjectives much easier. 

If you would like to learn more about the Japanese language and other useful Japanese phrases for any situation, you’ll find much more helpful content on JapanesePod101.com. We provide a variety of free lessons for you to improve your Japanese language skills. For example, you may find these lessons with audio recordings useful: 50 Most Common Nouns, 50 Most Common Verbs, and Most Common Adjectives.

 To learn more about Japanese adverbs and adjectives, check out Must-Know Adverbs and Phrases for Connecting Thoughts and Spring Adjectives/Adverbs. How to Improve Your Speaking Skills and Top 10 Conversational Phrases are also useful pages you can visit to brush up on your Japanese conversational skills.

And there’s so much more. Learn Japanese faster and enjoy studying the language at JapanesePod101.com!

Before you go, let us know in the comments if there are any Japanese adverbs you still want to know! We’d be glad to help, and look forward to hearing from you!

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