Japanese adverbs are the key to fully expressing yourself. Adjectives describe nouns, but adverbs are much more diverse, adding context and flavor to verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs. When you learn Japanese, keep an eye out: You’re sure to see adverbs in unexpected places.
With such a wide variety comes numerous categories. Read on to learn over 100 adverbs for every scenario, preparing you to confidently communicate in Japanese.
Table of Contents
What are Japanese adverbs?
Adverbs in Japanese, known as fukushi (副詞), can be split into two primary types: those that modify other parts of speech and those used for special expressions.
Modifying other Japanese parts of speech is straightforward. It’s very similar to how we use adverbs in English. Look at how the italicized adverbs work in these phrases:
- Noun: only children
- Verb: walk quickly
- Adjective: stunningly beautiful
Adverbs for special expressions are more unique. In Japanese, this includes expressions that are negative (“never”) and those that deal with probability and conjecture (“maybe”).
How to use Japanese adverbs
Like many other parts of Japanese grammar, the placement of Japanese adverbs in a sentence is fairly free. However, verbs go at the end of a complete sentence in Japanese, meaning the adverb will always go before the verb. As long as the adverb precedes the word it’s modifying, the meaning will come across with only slight changes in nuance, if any.
- Yoku tomodachi to eiga o mi ni ikimasu.（よく友だちと映画を見に行きます。）= I go with a friend to the movies often.
- Tomodachi to yoku eiga o mi ni ikimasu.（友だちとよく映画を見に行きます。）= I often go with a friend to the movies.
However, if a sentence becomes more complex—such as with multiple clauses and adverbs—the adverb should be placed as close to the word it’s modifying as possible to maintain clarity.
- Haru ga mō sugu owatte masu masu atsuku narimasu.（春がもうすぐ終わってますます暑くなります。）= Spring will be ending soon and it’ll get hotter and hotter (literally: more and more hot).
Types of Japanese adverbs
With so many adverbs, where do you start? Below are several lists of the most useful Japanese adverbs to help you on your way.
Adverbs about time
Using adverbs about time adds context and history to what you say. You don’t always know the specific hour or number of minutes—or the information isn’t relevant—so these words let you focus on the more important parts of the sentence.
| Japanese | Romanization | English |
| いつも | itsumo | always |
| 時々 | tokidoki | sometimes |
| 度々 | tabitabi | frequently |
| よく | yoku | often |
| たまに | tama ni | occasionally |
| しばらく | shibaraku | for a while |
| ずっと | zutto | the entire time; always |
| すぐに | sugu ni | right away |
| 早速 | sassoku | immediately |
| やっと | yatto | finally |
| 先ほど | sakihodo | a little while ago |
| たった今 | tatta ima | just now |
| すでに | sude ni | already |
| 初めて | hajimete | for the first time |
| また | mata | again |
Sometimes you’ll want to express that the time involved has had or will have an impact on an action, such as:
- Zutto issho ni itai!（ずっと一緒にいたい！）= I always want to be together!
- Shukudai ga yatto dekimashita.（宿題がやっとできました。）= I finally finished my homework.
Adverbs about degree
A day at the beach in the middle of summer isn’t just hot: It’s very hot, especially when there isn’t a cloud in the sky! Adverbs about degree lend a sense of gravity and urgency to a sentence for both good and bad situations.
| Japanese | Romanization | English |
| とても | totemo | very |
| 大変 | taihen | extremely |
| 特に | toku ni | especially |
| 大分 | daibu | fairly |
| なかなか | naka naka | quite |
| いっそう | issō | even more |
| ますます | masu masu | more and more |
| もっと | motto | more |
| 最も | motto mo | most |
| 一番 | ichiban | most (casual) |
Expressing degree with adverbs adds emotion to these example sentences:
- Hon wa masu masu omoshiroku natta.（本はますます面白くなった。）= The book became more and more interesting.
- Ichiban suki na tabemono wa piza desu!（一番好きな食べ物はピザです！）= My favorite food is pizza! (Literally: The food I like the most is pizza!)
Adverbs about manner
Adverbs to describe how you do something or how something happens are important when creating complex and interesting sentences. If you’re just starting out with Japanese, you may find yourself asking someone to repeat themselves slowly (yukkuri) and clearly (hakkiri) to help you understand. You can also practice those questions live with a native speaker with Rosetta Stone Tutoring!
| Japanese | Romanization | English |
| ゆっくり | yukkuri | slowly |
| さっさと | sassato | quickly |
| はっきり | hakkiri | clearly |
| きっぱり | kippari | flatly |
| きちんと | kichinto | neatly |
| しっかり | shikkari | steadily |
| なるべく | narubeku | as…as possible |
| とにかく | tonikaku | at any rate |
| せっかく | sekkaku | kindly; at great pains |
| ぼんやり | bonyari | vacantly |
| 幸い | saiwai | fortunately |
| あいにく | ainiku | unfortunately |
| ぴったり | pittari | perfectly |
| ちょうど | chōdo | exactly |
| じょじょに | jojo ni | gradually (quality of change) |
| だんだん | dandan | gradually (direction of change) |
| きっと | kitto | surely |
| もちろん | mochiron | of course |
| やはり・やっぱり | yahari/yappari | as expected |
| 相変わらず | aikawarazu | as usual |
These are a few more examples showing how to use these words effectively:
- Sekkaku tetsudatte kureta no ni…（せっかく手伝ってくれたのに…）= Even after you so kindly helped me out…
- Narubeku hayaku okutte okimasu.（なるべく早く送っておきます。）= I will send it as soon as possible.
Adverbs about quantity
We specify and estimate quantities every day, and adverbs about quantity are especially useful in Japanese. One notable aspect of Japanese grammar is the conspicuous lack of plurals. Context, Japanese counters, and adverbs are essential for conveying size and amount.
| Japanese | Romanization | English |
| みんな・みな | minna/mina | all; everyone |
| すべて | subete | all |
| たくさん | takusan | a lot; much |
| 十分に | jūbun ni | plenty; thoroughly |
| いっぱい | ippai | full |
| みっちり | micchiri | thoroughly |
| ほとんど | hotondo | almost |
| 少し | sukoshi | a little bit |
| ちょっと | chotto | a little bit (casual) |
| 少なくとも | sukunakutomo | at least |
| つい | tsui | just |
| たった | tatta | only |
| ただ | tada | merely; only |
| せいぜい | seizei | at most |
| 約 | yaku | approximately |
While minna (colloquial) and mina (polite) can be used for items, you’ll often hear it in reference to people.
- Minna ganbatteta ne.（みんな頑張ってたね。）= Everyone worked hard, didn’t they?
The word for “approximately” is typically used with numbers.
- Otto no shinchō wa yaku 180 senchi desu.（夫の身長は約１８０センチです。）= My husband is approximately 180 centimeters tall.
Adverbs about conjecture and probability
Conjecture and probability are a fancy way to say these adverbs are for making assertions and guesses. When you want to say “maybe,” one or several of the below words are appropriate for the situation.
| Japanese | Romanization | English |
| 多分 | tabun | probably (confident) |
| 恐らく | osoraku | probably (not confident) |
| 是非 | zehi | by all means; definitely |
| 確か | tashika | perhaps (based on memory) |
| まるで | marude | just like |
These adverbs go well with personal thoughts and requests:
- Zehi nihon ni kite kudasai!（是非日本に来てください！）= By all means, please come to Japan!
Onomatopoeic adverbs
Japanese onomatopoeia is significantly more varied and common than English. In both languages, the words evoke strong images associated with their sounds. However, in terms of how they fit in a sentence, English onomatopoeia is either its own verb or is a sound effect. Japanese onomatopoeia may look like verbs or adjectives in English, but they function as adverbs with an associated verb.
| Japanese | Romanization | English |
| にこにこ | nikoniko | happily |
| にやにや | niyaniya | grin; smirk |
| くすくす | kusukusu | giggle; chuckle |
| しくしく | shikushiku | weep |
| ぷんぷん | punpun | fume; in a huff |
| ぺらぺら | perapera | fluently; speak quickly |
| ひそひそ | hisohiso | whisper |
| よろよろ | yoroyoro | stagger |
| すやすや | suyasuya | sleep peacefully |
| ぐうぐう | gūgū | sleep soundly; snore |
| ふらふら | furafura | dizzy; unsteady |
| がんがん | gangan | head pounding |
| わくわく | wakuwaku | excited |
| どきどき | dokidoki | nervous; excited |
| きらきら | kirakira | sparkle |
Many of these words are used in conjunction with verbs that have similar meanings. In this example sentence, kirakira (sparkle) is acting as an adverb with the verb kagayaku (輝く), which also means “to sparkle.” While the verb can stand on its own, the addition of the adverb offers a more vivid image. The eyes aren’t just sparkling: They’re super sparkly!
- Onna no ko no me wa kirakira kagayaiteita.（女の子の目はきらきら輝いていた。）= The girl’s eyes were sparkling.
The verb suru (する), which means “to do,” is often used as well, putting the majority of the heavy lifting on the adverb.
- Suki na hito ga watashi no tonari no seki ni suwatte mune ga dokidoki shita!（好きな人が私の隣の席に座って胸がどきどきした！）= The person I like sat in the seat next to me and my heart was pounding!
Negative adverbs
When using an adverb for negative scenarios, the sentence or clause will end in an appropriately negative conjugation. Knowing the basics of Japanese verb conjugation is useful for putting these adverbs into practice. The “~nai” shown in the center column of the table below is to indicate that the verb or adjective conjugation will be negative.
| Japanese | Romanization | English |
| まだ～ない | mada~nai | not yet |
| あまり～ない | amari~nai | not very |
| ほとんど～ない | hotondo~nai | hardly |
| 全然～ない | zenzen~nai | not at all |
| さっぱり～ない | sappari~nai | not at all (casual) |
| 別に～ない | betsu ni~nai | not particularly |
| 決して～ない | keshite~nai | absolutely not; never |
| 必ずしも～ない | kanarazu shi mo~nai | not necessarily |
| ろくに～ない | rokuni~nai | not properly |
| まさか～ない | masaka~nai | never thought that… |
Depending on the formality of the sentence, the negative conjugation at the end of the phrase may not be -nai. Instead, it may be another negative ending like the more polite -arimasen. You can see this in action in these example sentences where the first uses a verb conjugation with the -nai ending and the second uses an adjective conjugation with the -arimasen ending.
- Sappari wakaranai yo.（さっぱり分からないよ。）= I have no idea. (Literally: I don’t understand at all.)
- Fuyu no hi wa kanarazu shi mo samuku arimasen.（冬の日は必ずしも寒くありません。）= Winter days aren’t necessarily cold.
How are Japanese adjectives and adverbs related?
Did you know Japanese adjectives can also be turned into adverbs? We do this in English, too! The two types of Japanese adjectives—i-adjectives and na-adjectives—conjugate differently. For i-adjectives, the final character i (い) is turned into a ku (く). For na-adjectives, ni (に) is added to the end of the word instead of na (な).
| Japanese | Romanization | English |
| 遅い・遅く | osoi/osoku | slow/slowly |
| 早い・早く | hayai/hayaku | early/early |
| すごい・すごく | sugoi/sugoku | amazing/amazingly |
| 速い・速く | hayai/hayaku | fast/quickly |
| 悪い・悪く | warui/waruku | bad/badly |
| いい・よく | ii/yoku | good/well |
| 真面目（な）・真面目に | majime (na)/majime ni | serious/seriously |
| 静か（な）・静かに | shizuka (na)/shizuka ni | quiet/quietly |
| 上手（な）・上手に | jōzu (na)/jōzu ni | skillful/skillfully |
| 下手（な）・下手に | heta (na)/heta ni | poor/poorly |
You can see how the adjectives-turned-adverbs work in these sentences:
- Okinawa wa sugoku utsukushii!（沖縄はすごく美しい！）= Okinawa is incredibly beautiful!
- Kossetsu shita tekubi no sei de namae o heta ni kaite shimaimashita.（骨折した手首のせいで名前を下手に書いてしまいました。）= I wrote my name poorly on account of my broken wrist.
Key takeaways about Japanese adverbs
- Japanese adverbs—or fukushi—modify other parts of speech and are used for special expressions.
- Adverbs describe time, degree, manner, quantity, conjecture, and more.
- The separate category of Japanese onomatopoeia are also included in adverbs.
- The placement of Japanese adverbs in a sentence is relatively free in simple sentences.
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