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JLPT N5Adverbs

Degree Adverbs— How Much

Adverbs that adjust the intensity of an adjective or verb, letting you express nuance (very, a little, quite) without extra vocabulary.

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Pro lessonUNIT 23 · ADVERBS

Structure · 形

[Degree Adverb] + [Adjective/Verb]

Examples · 例文

  • とても美味しかったです。

    Totemo oishikatta desu.

    It was very delicious.

    とても (very/extremely) + 美味しかった (was delicious, past of 美味しい) + です

  • ちょっと待って。

    Chotto matte.

    Wait a little.

    ちょっと (a little / just a moment) + 待って (wait, te-form request)

  • 今日はあまり寒くないです。

    Kyou wa amari samukunai desu.

    It's not very cold today.

    あまり (not very) + 寒くない — あまり must pair with a negative to soften the degree

Usage notes · 注意

  • The universal softener: ちょっと is culturally huge. Japanese speakers use it constantly to soften requests or to decline politely ("ちょっと用事があって…" = "I've got a little something to do, so…") instead of a blunt 'no.'
  • Common degree words: とても／すごく (very), かなり (quite), 少し／ちょっと (a little), あまり〜ない (not very).

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones Degree is tested against.

vsちょっと vs 少し

Same core meaning ('a little'), but ちょっと is casual/spoken while 少し is more neutral or formal. In writing, prefer 少し.

vsとても vs すごく

Both mean 'very.' とても is neutral/polite; すごく is casual and more emotional/colloquial.

More adverbs

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