In short

Japanese adverbs never inflect and need no particle to hook them onto the verb - you simply drop them in before the word they modify. Learn the frequency scale from いつも itsumo (always) down to 全然 zenzen (not at all), and remember that a handful of them - あまり, 全然, ちっとも - are only half a sentence: they demand a negative verb at the end.

The rule

An adverb (副詞 fukushi) is the easiest word class in Japanese. It has no conjugation and no plural, and it needs no particle to attach it to the verb (focus particles can still be added for emphasis - 少しは sukoshi wa, いつもは itsumo wa - but that is a choice, never a requirement). The only question is where it sits, and the answer is always the same: an adverb comes before the thing it modifies, and the thing it modifies comes later in the sentence.

Step 1 - Put frequency adverbs before the verb. Because Japanese is verb-final, “before the verb” gives you a lot of freedom. All three of these are grammatical: 私はよく映画を見ます / 私は映画をよく見ます / よく私は映画を見ます (Watashi wa yoku eiga o mimasu, “I often watch films”) - the last one fronts the adverb for emphasis, so keep the adverb near its verb unless you want that. The neutral default is topic + time + frequency adverb + object + verb. What you may never do is put the adverb after the verb - ×映画を見ますよく is impossible.

Step 2 - Choose from the frequency scale. Japanese grades frequency with single words, not with “how often” phrases: いつも > たいてい > よく > 時々 > たまに > あまり〜ない > ほとんど〜ない > 全然〜ない > 一度も〜ない.

Step 3 - Put degree adverbs directly before the adjective. The pattern is Degree adverb + Adjective + です: とても高いです (totemo takai desu, “it is very expensive”), 少し寒いです (sukoshi samui desu, “it is a little cold”). Degree adverbs also modify verbs - 少し待ちます (sukoshi machimasu, “I will wait a bit”) - but the adjective slot is where you will use them most.

Step 4 - Derive your own adverbs from adjectives. Any adjective can become an adverb, and the rule splits by adjective class:

• い-adjective: drop the final い, add く. 早い hayai -> 早く hayaku (early, quickly); 大きい ōkii -> 大きく ōkiku (in a big way, on a large scale).
• な-adjective: add に. 静か shizuka -> 静かに shizuka ni (quietly); 上手 jōzu -> 上手に jōzu ni (skilfully).

The single irregular is いい／良い ii/yoi (good), whose adverb is よく yoku - never ×いく. This is the same よく that means “often”, which is why よく分かります means “I understand well” but よく行きます means “I go often”.

Negative-polarity adverbs. Three adverbs are grammatically incomplete on their own and force a negative predicate at the end of the sentence: あまり (not much), 全然 (not at all), ちっとも (not in the slightest). なかなか belongs here only in its “not readily” sense - with an affirmative predicate it is a perfectly good word meaning “quite, rather” (see Tips). ほとんど hotondo works the same way: with a negative it means “hardly (ever)” - ほとんど行きません (hotondo ikimasen, “I hardly ever go”) - and with an affirmative “practically, almost” - ほとんど終わりました (hotondo owarimashita, “it is practically finished”). Before a noun it takes の: ほとんどの店 (hotondo no mise, “almost every shop”). Treat あまり as an opening bracket that only ません／ない can close: あまり食べません (amari tabemasen, “I don’t eat much”), not ×あまり食べます. This is your first taste of Japanese negative concord; the full system, with 誰も dare mo (nobody) and 何も nani mo (nothing), is handled at Indefinite and negative pronouns.

Quantity adverbs. 全部 zenbu (all of it) and みんな minna (all of them) sit directly before the verb with no particle: 全部食べました (zenbu tabemashita, “I ate all of it”).

もう and まだ. These two split by polarity rather than by meaning:

• もう + affirmative = “already”: もう食べました (mō tabemashita, “I have already eaten”).
• まだ + negative = “not yet”: まだ食べていません (mada tabete imasen, “I haven’t eaten yet”). Note the negative is 〜ていません, not ×まだ食べませんでした - the 〜ている form arrives properly three lessons on.
• まだ + affirmative = “still”: まだ会社にいます (mada kaisha ni imasu, “I am still at the office”).
• もう + negative = “not any more”: もう飲みません (mō nomimasen, “I don’t drink any more”).

Forms & patterns

The frequency scale. The percentages are rough teaching values, not rules.

Degree adverbs.

Deriving adverbs from adjectives.

Examples

Common mistakes

• あまり高いです。 (Amari takai desu.) -> あまり高くないです。 (Amari takakunai desu.) - あまり cannot end in an affirmative. If you mean “it is quite expensive”, the adverb you want is かなり, not あまり.
• 全然おいしいです。 (Zenzen oishii desu.) -> 全然おいしくないです。 (Zenzen oishikunai desu.) - Same trap, stronger. In standard written and polite Japanese 全然 requires a negative; the affirmative 全然大丈夫 you may hear from friends is casual slang, not something to write.
• 字を大きい書きます。 (Ji o ōkii kakimasu.) -> 字を大きく書きます。 (Ji o ōkiku kakimasu.) - To modify a verb, an い-adjective must switch its final い to く. The bare dictionary form modifies nouns only.
• 静か勉強します。 (Shizuka benkyō shimasu.) -> 静かに勉強します。 (Shizuka ni benkyō shimasu.) - A な-adjective needs に to reach a verb. Dropping it leaves a bare noun stranded in front of the verb.
• 日本語がいく分かりません。 (Nihongo ga iku wakarimasen.) -> 日本語がよく分かりません。 (Nihongo ga yoku wakarimasen.) - いい is the one irregular adjective: its adverb is よく, formed from 良い yoi, the older (and still formal) form of いい.

Tips

• よく is two words in one. With a verb of understanding or ability it means “well” (よく分かります); with an action verb it means “often” (よく行きます). The verb, not the adverb, decides. If you need “often” unambiguously, 時々 and たいてい are safe.
• Hear あまり, reserve a ません. The most efficient habit at this level is to treat あまり／全然／ちっとも as the front half of a frame - the moment one leaves your mouth, the sentence is committed to ending in a negative. English has nothing equivalent, so it has to become muscle memory.
• なかなか flips meaning with polarity. Affirmative なかなかおいしいです (nakanaka oishii desu) is a compliment, “it’s really quite good”. Negative なかなか来ません (nakanaka kimasen) means “it just won’t come”. Same word, opposite feel.
• ちょっと is a social tool, not just a quantity. ちょっと待ってください is “wait a moment”, but a trailing ちょっと…… (chotto……) with no verb at all is a polite refusal - “that’s a bit…”. Japanese declines by leaving the sentence unfinished.