Properties of Adverbs
Vocabulary
- 早い 【はや・い】 (i-adj) – fast; early
- きれい (na-adj) – pretty; clean
- 朝ご飯 【あさ・ご・はん】 – breakfast
- 食べる 【た・べる】(ru-verb) – to eat
- 自分 【じ・ぶん】 – oneself
- 部屋 【へ・や】 – room
- 映画 【えい・が】 – movie
- たくさん – a lot (amount)
- 見る 【み・る】 – to see; to watch
- 最近 【さい・きん】 – recent; lately
- 全然 【ぜん・ぜん】 – not at all (when used with negative)
- 声 【こえ】 – voice
- 結構 【けっ・こう】 – fairly, reasonably
- 大きい 【おお・きい】(i-adj) – big
- この – this （abbr. of これの）
- 町 【まち】 – town
- 変わる 【か・わる】(u-verb) – to change
- 図書館 【と・しょ・かん】 – library
- 中 【なか】 – inside
- 静か 【しず・か】(na-adj) – quiet
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 as 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.
- For i-adjectives: Substitute the 「い」 with 「く」.
Example: 早い → 早く - For na-adjectives: Attach the target particle 「に」.
Example: きれい → きれいに
- ボブは朝ご飯を早く食べた。
Bob quickly ate breakfast.
The adverb 「早く」 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 「早く走った」, it is quite obvious that it probably means quickly and not early. (Of course this also depends on the context.)
- アリスは自分の部屋をきれいにした。
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.” （「きれい」 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 「全然」 and 「たくさん」 are adverbs in themselves without any conjugation. These words can be used without particles just like regular adverbs.
- 映画をたくさん見た。
Saw a lot of movies. - 最近、全然食べない。
Lately, don’t eat at all.
Examples
Here are some more examples of using adverbs.
-
ボブの声は、結構大きい。
Bob’s voice is fairly large. - この町は、最近大きく変わった。
This town had changed greatly lately. - 図書館の中では、静かにする。
Within the library, [we] do things quietly.
Sentence-ending particles
Vocabulary
- いい (i-adj) – good
- 天気 【てん・き】 – weather
- そう – (things are) that way
- 面白い 【おも・しろ・い】(i-adj) – interesting
- 映画 【えい・が】 – movie
- 全然 【ぜん・ぜん】 – not at all (when used with negative)
- 時間 【じ・かん】 – time
- ある (u-verb) – to exist (inanimate)
- 大丈夫 【だい・じょう・ぶ】 (na-adj) – ok
- 今日 【きょう】 – today
- うん – yes (casual)
- でも – but
- 明日 【あした】 – tomorrow
- 雨 【あめ】 – rain
- 降る 【ふ・る】(u-verb) – to precipitate
- 魚 【さかな】 – fish
- 好き 【す・き】 (na-adj) – likable
Sentence-ending particles are particles that always come at the end of sentences to change the “tone” or “feel” of a sentence. In this section, we will cover the two most commonly used sentence-ending particles.
「ね」 sentence ending
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：いい天気だね。
Bob: Good weather, huh?
アリス：そうね。
Alice: That is so, isn’t it?
The literal translation of 「そうね」 sounds a bit odd but it basically means something like, “Sure is”. Males would probably say, 「そうだね」.
Example 2
アリス：おもしろい映画だったね。
Alice: That was interesting movie, wasn’t it?
ボブ：え？全然おもしろくなかった。
Bob: 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.)
「よ」 sentence ending
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：時間がないよ。
Alice: You know, there is no time.
ボブ：大丈夫だよ。
Bob: It’s ok, you know.
Example 2
アリス：今日はいい天気だね。
Alice: Good weather today, huh?
ボブ：うん。でも、明日雨が降るよ。
Bob: Yeah. But it will rain tomorrow, you know.
Combining both to get 「よね」
You can also combine the two particles 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、魚が好きなんだよね。
Alice: You know, you like fish, dontcha?
ボブ：そうだね。
Bob: That is so, huh?