Degree Adverbs
Degree adverbs express the intensity, extent, or amount of an action or quality. They answer "how much?" or "to what degree?" and modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs to show strength or weakness of description.
とても美味しい
"Very delicious"
少し疲れた
"A little tired"
すごく寒い
"Extremely cold"
High Degree Adverbs
とても (Very)
とても美味しい
"Very delicious"
とても忙しい
"Very busy"
とても好き
"Like very much"
Standard "very"
Polite, neutral
すごく (Extremely/Really)
すごく美味しい
"Really delicious"
すごく楽しい
"Extremely fun"
すごく高い
"Really expensive"
Stronger than とても
More casual
非常に (Extremely - Formal)
非常に重要だ
"Extremely important"
非常に危険だ
"Extremely dangerous"
Formal contexts
Written language
かなり (Quite/Considerably)
かなり難しい
"Quite difficult"
かなり疲れた
"Considerably tired"
かなり寒い
"Quite cold"
Significant degree
めちゃくちゃ/めっちゃ (Super - Casual)
めっちゃ美味しい
"Super delicious"
めちゃくちゃ楽しい
"Super fun"
Very casual
Young people
Kansai origin
本当に (Really/Truly)
本当に美味しい
"Really delicious"
本当に嬉しい
"Truly happy"
本当に分からない
"Really don't understand"
Emphasizes truth
大変 (Very/Extremely)
大変難しい
"Very difficult"
大変お世話になりました
"Thank you very much" (formal)
Formal emphasis
Trouble/difficulty nuance
Medium Degree Adverbs
まあまあ (So-so/Fairly)
まあまあ面白い
"Fairly interesting"
まあまあ美味しい
"So-so delicious"
Medium satisfaction
Not great, not bad
結構 (Fairly/Quite)
結構大きい
"Fairly big"
結構好き
"Quite like"
結構難しい
"Fairly difficult"
More than expected
Considerable amount
わりと/割と (Relatively/Fairly)
わりと簡単
"Relatively easy"
割と近い
"Fairly close"
Compared to expectation
Moderate degree
Low Degree Adverbs
少し/ちょっと (A little/Slightly)
少し疲れた
"A little tired"
ちょっと寒い
"Slightly cold"
少し待って
"Wait a little"
Small degree
Softens statements
あまり〜ない (Not very - with negative)
あまり美味しくない
"Not very delicious"
あまり好きじゃない
"Don't like very much"
あまり分からない
"Don't understand well"
With negative only
Mild negation
ほとんど〜ない (Hardly/Almost not)
ほとんど分からない
"Hardly understand"
ほとんど食べない
"Hardly eat"
Very little
Near zero
全然〜ない (Not at all)
全然分からない
"Don't understand at all"
全然好きじゃない
"Don't like at all"
全然面白くない
"Not interesting at all"
Complete negation
Absolute zero
Comparison Adverbs
もっと (More)
もっと速く
"More fast / Faster"
もっと大きい
"Bigger"
もっと欲しい
"Want more"
Increased degree
Comparison
ずっと (Much more/Far)
ずっと美味しい
"Much more delicious"
ずっと大きい
"Much bigger"
ずっと前
"Much earlier/Long ago"
Significant difference
さらに (Even more/Furthermore)
さらに難しい
"Even more difficult"
さらに良い
"Even better"
Formal addition
Incremental increase
Emphasis Adverbs
本当に (Really/Truly)
本当に美味しい
"Really delicious"
本当にありがとう
"Thank you so much"
Genuine emphasis
実に (Really/Indeed - Formal)
実に素晴らしい
"Really wonderful"
実に興味深い
"Indeed interesting"
Formal emphasis
まったく (Completely/Totally)
まったく同じ
"Exactly the same"
まったく分からない
"Don't understand at all"
Complete degree
Slang Degree Adverbs
ちょー/超 (Super - Casual)
ちょー楽しい
"Super fun"
超美味しい
"Super delicious"
Young speech
Very casual
めっちゃ (Very - Casual)
めっちゃ嬉しい
"So happy"
めっちゃ好き
"Like so much"
Kansai influence
Common in youth speech
With Different Parts of Speech
Modifying adjectives
とても大きい
"Very big"
すごく美味しい
"Really delicious"
Most common usage
Modifying verbs
とても好き
"Like very much"
すごく疲れた
"Got really tired"
Degree of action/state
Modifying adverbs
とても速く走る
"Run very fast"
すごくよく分かる
"Understand really well"
Layered modification
Negative Degree Expressions
With ない forms
あまり〜ない "not very"
全然〜ない "not at all"
ほとんど〜ない "hardly"
ちっとも〜ない "not at all"
さっぱり〜ない "not at all"
全然分からない
"Don't understand at all"
Must use negative
Position in Sentence
Before what it modifies
とても美味しい料理
"Very delicious food"
すごく速く走る
"Run really fast"
Precedes modified element
Common Patterns
〜すぎる (Too much)
食べすぎる
"Eat too much"
高すぎる
"Too expensive"
Excessive degree
Formal vs Casual Scale
Formal:
非常に > 大変 > とても > かなり
Casual:
めちゃくちゃ > めっちゃ > すごく > とても
Choose by context
Common Mistakes
Using あまり with positive
Wrong: あまり美味しい ⚠️
Correct: あまり美味しくない ✓
"Not very delicious"
Requires negative
Overusing とても
Repetitive: とても、とても、とても ⚠️
Better: Vary with すごく, 本当に ✓
Vary your vocabulary
Subtle Differences
とても vs すごく
とても: Neutral, polite
"Very delicious"
すごく: More casual, stronger
"Really delicious"
Formality level differs
Practice Sentences
Basic
とても美味しい
"Very delicious"
少し疲れた
"A little tired"
すごく楽しい
"Really fun"
かなり難しい
"Quite difficult"
全然分からない
"Don't understand at all"
もっと欲しい
"Want more"
Intermediate
この料理はとても美味しいです。
少し辛いですが、すごく
気に入りました。
"This dish is very delicious.
It's a little spicy, but I
really like it."
昨日のテストはかなり難しかった。
全然分からない問題もあった。
もっと勉強すればよかった。
"Yesterday's test was quite difficult.
There were also problems I didn't understand at all.
I should have studied more."
彼女は日本語がとても上手です。
本当によく勉強しています。
私もずっと頑張らなければ
ならない。
"She's very good at Japanese.
She really studies well.
I also must work much harder."
この本は少し難しいですが、
非常に面白いです。時間を
かけてゆっくり読んでいます。
"This book is a little difficult, but
extremely interesting. I'm taking
time to read it slowly."