Japanese Grammar: Changing Adjectives into Adverbs

Changing an adjective to an adverb (e.g. he ate quickly) in Japanese is simple, although the rules differ between i-adjectives and na-adjectives.

I-Adjectives

For i-adjectives we replace the い with く. For example, “cheap” goes to “cheaply” like so:

安やすい　⇒　安やすく

“Good” goes to “well” like so:

いい　⇒　よく

We can then append our adverbs before the verb to make a sentence.

早はやく　起おきます。

Wake up early.

強つよく　押おします。

To push with force [strongly].

高たかく　売うりました。

Sell for a good price.

For na-adjectives we add に. For example, “easy” goes to “easily” like so:

簡単かんたん　⇒　簡単かんたんに

“Quiet” goes to “quietly” like so:

静しずか　⇒　静しずかに

Some example sentences:

きれいに　書かきます。

Write beautifully.

丁寧ていねいに　話はなします。

Speak politely.