Using Adverbs and Gobi
Why adverbs and gobi?
Well, the two are not related to each other but I have decided to group them in one lesson because we will be covering only the two most common gobi for now and it is too short to be a separate lesson in itself.
Properties of Adverbs
Unlike English, changing adjectives to adverbs is a very simple and straightforward process. In addition, since the system of particles make sentence ordering flexible, adverbs can be placed anywhere in the clause that it applies to long as it comes before the verb that it refers to. As usual, we have two separate rules: one for i-adjectives, and one for na-adjectives.
How to change an adjective to an adverb
- i-adjectives: Substitute the 「い」 with 「く」.
例） い →
- na-adjectives: Attach the target particle 「に」.
例） → に
（１） ボブはを。- Bob quickly ate breakfast.
The adverb 「」 is a little different from the English word 'fast' in that it can mean quickly in terms of speed or time. In other words, Bob may have eaten his breakfast early or he may have eaten it quickly depending on the context. In other types of sentences such as 「」, it is quite obvious that it probably means quickly and not early. (Of course this also depends on the context.)
（２） アリスはのをに。- Alice did her own room toward clean.
The literal translation kind of gives you a sense of why the target particle is used. There is some argument against calling this an adverb at all but it is convenient for us to do so because of the grouping of i-adjectives and na-adjectives. Thinking of it as an adverb, we can interpret the sentence to mean: "Alice did her room cleanly." or less literally: "Alice cleaned her room." （「」 literally means "pretty" but if it helps, you can think of it as, "Alice prettied up her own room."）
Note: Not all adverbs are derived from adjectives. Some words like 「」 and 「」 are adverbs in themselves without any conjugation. These words can be used without particles just like regular adverbs.
（１） を。- Saw a lot of movies.
（２） 、。- Lately, don't eat at all.
Let's look at more examples of adverb usage.
（１） ボブのは、。 - Bob's voice is fairly large.
（２） は、。- This town had changed greatly lately.
（３） のでは、に。- Within the library, [we] do things quietly.
What's a "gobi"?
In this section, we will cover the two most commonly used gobi. 「語尾」 literally means "language tail" and it simply refers to anything that comes at the end of a sentence or a word. In this guide, I will use it to describe the one or two hiragana characters that always come at the end of sentences due to the lack of better terminology. These endings are often very hard to explain because many do not actually have a specific meaning. But they can change the 'sound' or 'feel' of a sentence and add some zest and pep to the sentence. The two we will cover here do have meanings and they are used quite often.
The 「ね」 gobi
People usually add 「ね」 to the end of their sentence when they are looking for (and expecting) agreement to what they are saying. This is equivalent to saying, "right?" or "isn't it?" in English.
Example 1
ボブ： だね。- Good weather, huh?
アリス： ね。- That is so, isn't it?
The literal translation of 「ね」 sounds a bit odd but it basically means something like, "Sure is". Males would probably say, 「だね」.
Example 2
アリス： だったね。- That was interesting movie, wasn't it?
ボブ： え？。- Huh? No, it wasn't interesting at all.
Since Alice is expecting agreement that the movie was interesting Bob is surprised because he didn't find the movie interesting at all. (「え」 is a
sound of surprise and confusion.)
The 「よ」 gobi
When 「よ」 is attached to the end of a sentence, it means that the speaker is informing the listener of something new. In English, we might say this with a, "You know..." such as the sentence, "You know, I'm actually a genius."
Example 1
アリス： がよ。- You know, there is no time.
ボブ： よ。- It's ok, you know.
Example 2
アリス： はだね。- Good weather today, huh?
ボブ： 。、がよ。- Yeah. But it will rain tomorrow, you know.
Combining both to get 「よね」
You can also combine the two gobi we just learned to create 「よね」. This is essentially used when you want to inform the listener of some new point you're trying to make and when you're seeking agreement on it at the same time. When combining the two, the order must always be 「よね」. You cannot reverse the order.
Example
アリス： ボブは、がなんだよね。- You know, you like fish, dontcha?
ボブ： だね。- That is so, huh?
This page has last been revised on 2005/1/8