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.
Structure
[Degree Adverb] + [Adjective/Verb]
Examples
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
• 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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