Sunday, November 30, 2008

VI. Adverbs

Adverbs modify a vervb, an adjective or an adverb which they precede.

Examples
1. Atama ga sukoshi itai desu.
"I have a slight headache."
2. Yukkuri hanashimashita.
"Someone* spoke slowly."
3. Kono kanji wa chotto muzukashii desu.
"This kanji is a little difficult."
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)

The preceding examples show that adverbs like sukoshi "a little," yukkuri "slowly" and chotto "a little" precede the verb or the adjective they modify.
An adverb can also modify another adverb. Moo "more," for example, can modify sukoshi, chotto, ichido, etc.

Examples
1. Moo sukoshi nomimasen ka.
"Won't you drink a little more?"
2. Moo chotto kaimasu.
"I'll buy a little more."

Some adverbs are always followed by a negative predicate. Amari used on the sixth line of Dialogue 6-2 is one of them. Amari ... arimasen means "not very" or "not so."

Examples
1. Kore wa amari yoku arimasen.
"This is not very good."
2. Kono sandaru wa amari kiree ja arimasen.
"This pair of sandals isn't so pretty."

No comments: