ADVERBS USAGE/PLACEMENT We all know that in English, adjectives are used to describe nouns and adverbs are used

to describe verbs. That's the same in Japanese. For example... sensei ga ookii ji wo kakimashita Meaning: Teacher wrote a big word.

...the adjective (ookii - big) is describing the noun (ji - word). In order to describe the action of the teacher (how she wrote the word), you will need to put in the adverb. Note that Japanese adverbs always come before verbs. Therefore using the above example... sensei ga ji wo ookiku kakimashita Meaning: Teacher wrote the word with big strokes. sensei ga ji wo kirei ni kakimashita Meaning: Teacher wrote the word neatly.

In the above 2 examples, the adverbs (ookiku) and (kirei ni) are describing the actions of teacher (how she wrote the word).

1. Changing Adjectives to Adverbs How to change an adjective to an adverb? Since there are 2 types of adjectives (i-adjective and na-adjective), there are 2 different rules governing the change. i-adjectives: -adj() Verb (Action) na-adjectives: -adj Verb (Action) For i-adjectives, you just need to replace the (i) in the adjective with (ku). Whereas for na-adjectives, append the hiragana (ni) to the adjective. Let's use some more examples to show how easy to form adverbs using adjectives... 1. / watashi wa yuube uchi e hayaku/osoku kaerimashita Meaning: I went home early/late last night. / tomodachi wa itsumo hayaku/osoku arukimasu Meaning: My friend always walks quickly/slowly.

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sensei wa nihongo wo jouzu ni hanashimasu Meaning: Teacher speaks Japanese nicely/skillfully.

There are 2 meanings for (hayai). It can mean early or fastdepending on the context of the sentence. Similarly, (osoi) can mean late or slowly depending on the sentence's context. 2. Regular Japanese Adverbs The second type of Japanese adverbs is not derived from adjectives. This group of adverbs are regular adverbs which we use frequently in sentences. I will list some of the most commonly used adverbs with examples. a. (hakkiri) - clearly, distinctly hakkiri setsume shite kudasai Meaning: Please explain clearly.

b. (yukkuri) - slowly, at ease yukkuri arukinasai Meaning: Walk slowly.

c. (sukoshi) - little, few, small quantity watashi wa sukoshi tsukarete imasu Meaning: I am a little tired.

d. (hotondo) - almost, nearly watashi wa hotondo mainichi terebi wo mite imasu Meaning: I am watching tv almost every day.

e. (amari~nai) - not very, not much (used with negative) kare wa amari se ga takakunai Meaning: He is not very tall.

f. (zenzen~nai) - completely, not at all (used with negative) kanojo wa zenzen osake wo nomanai Meaning: She doesn't drink (alcohol) at all.