Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Adverbs


Chapter 4
Adverbs Section 10
An adverb, a verb modifier, defines how the action is performed. In addition, an adverb can also modify an adjective or another adverb.
For example, the word kayaku (quickly) in the following sentence is an adverb modifying the verb aruku (to walk).
Watashi wa hayaku aruki masu.                            I walk quickly.
An adverb is normally placed in a sentence directly before the verb or the object, if one appears. So the general sentence pattern is:
                  (Theme)-wa Time / Place / Other definition / Adverb (Object)-o v2-masu.
Note: If the verb is intransitive, disregard (object)-o.

There are three types of Japanese adverbs:
1.       Adverbs derived from adjectives
2.       Nouns with adverbial suffixes
3.       Adverbs proper

Adverbs derived from adjectives
Just like the English words “quick” (adjective) and “quickly” (adverb), Japanese adjectives can also be converted to adverbs by changing their suffixes in the following manner.
                  Adjective                                    à             Adverb
                  Adj-i                                                               Adj-ku
                  Adj-na                                                           Adj-ni

Examples:
                  haya-i                        quick                          haya-ku                     quickly
                  oso-i                          slow                           oso-ku                       slowly
                  atarashi-i                 new                            atarashi-ku              newly
                  tanoshi-i                   merry                        tanoshi-ku               merrily
                  shinsetsu-na           kind                            shinsetsu-ni            kindly
                  shoujiki-na              honest                       shoujiki-ni               honestly
                  shizuka-na               quiet                          shizukana-ni           quietly

watashi tachi wa tanoshi ku                                   We spent the holiday merrily.
kyuujitsu o sugoshi-mashita.
Kanojo wa shizuka-ni hon o yomi-mashita.        She read the book quietly.

Nouns with Adverbial suffixes
Nouns with the following adverbial suffixes can function as adverbs:
                  -gurai                         about
                  -hodo                         to the extent of
                  -dake                         only
                  -bakari                      nothing but
                  -demo, -nado            or something like that
                  -demo, -datte,           even
                  -desae
                  -nanka                       such as

Examples:
Watashi wa go-man en gurai tsukai-mashita.    I spent about Y50,000.
Sore wa go-sen en hodo ooku kakari-masu.       It will cost almost Y5,000 more.
Watashi wa eigo dake narai-mashita.                 I learnt only English.
Kare wa shigoto bakari shi-masu.                       He does nothing but work.
O-cha demo nomi-masu ka.                                 Shall we have tea or something?
Nihon no uta datte utai-masu.                             I can even sing Japanese songs.
Okane nante iri-masen.                                        I don’t need anything like money.

Adverbs Proper
Adverbs of degree
                  ippai, juubun-ni, zenbu, sukkari        fully
                  mina, minna                                         all, every
                  totemo, taihen, hijou-ni                       very much, extremely
                  zutto, danzen                                        by far
                  zehi, zehitomo                                        by all means
                  mattaku, nakanaka, soutou                 quite, considerably
                  takusan, oozei (people only)                 many, much
                  hotondo, daitai                                     almost
                  futsuu, taitei                                          generally
                  omo-ni, shutoshite                                mainly
                  daibu, kanari                                        considerably
                  toku-ni, tokubetsu                               especially
                  iroiro                                                      variously
                  ichiou, toriaezu                                    tentatively
                  motto, issou                                          more
                  kitto, kanarazu                                    surely
                  tabun, osoraku                                    probably, maybe
                  narubeku, dekirudake                        as….as possible
                  yoku, umaku                                        well
chotto, sukoshi                                       a few, a little
angai                                                        unexpectedly
amari                                                       not much, not quite
chittomo, sukoshimo                               not a bit
kesshite, zettai-ni                                    never

Adverbs of manner
                  dondon, sumiyaka-ni                              rapidly
                  kyuu-ni, totsuzen                                     suddenly
                  dandan, shidai-ni                                    gradually
                  yukkuri                                                    slowly
                  chanto                                                      properly
                  hontou-ni                                                 truly
                  choudo, pittari                                       exactly
                  shikkari-to                                              firmly
                  hakkiri-to                                                clearly
                  marude                                                    utterly
                  yahari, kekkyoku                                   after all
                  tonikaku                                                  anyhow
                  mushiro, kaette                                       rather

watashi wa taihen tsukare-mashita.                    I am very tired.
yuube o-sake o sukoshi nomi-mashita.               I had a little sake last night.
kanojo wa kitto yakusoku o mamori-masu.       She will surely keep her promise.
kare wa tabun ki-masen.                                      He will probably not come.
watashi wa amari nomi-masen.                           I don’t drink much.
watashi wa kesshite uso o tsuki-masen.              I never tell a lie.
kare wa totsuzen tachi agari-mashita.                He suddenly stood up.
kanojo wa shikkari to watashi no ude o              She held my arm firmly.
tsukami-mashita.
yume wa yahari jitsugen shi-masen                    The dream did not come true after all.
deshita.

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