N4 · Adjectives and adverbs
Adverbs from adjectives, and becoming
adverbs with く and に, and なる
く turns an i-adjective into an adverb, に does the same for a na-adjective, and both combine with なる for change.
To describe how something is done, an i-adjective swaps its final い for く: 早い becomes 早く, and 早く起きます is "I get up early". A na-adjective adds に: 静かに話してください, "Please speak quietly". English does the same job with -ly, but Japanese uses the adverb in places where English keeps the adjective: "cut it short" is 短く切る.
The same forms combine with なる, "to become": 高くなる is "to become expensive", 上手になる "to get good at something". Nouns take に as well: 医者になる. This is the everyday way to talk about change, and the past なりました often describes the situation now: 寒くなりましたね, "It has got cold, hasn't it".
With する instead of なる, somebody makes the change happen: 部屋をきれいにする, "to tidy the room" (to make it clean), 音を小さくする, "to turn the sound down". なる is what happens; する is what somebody does.
English speakers go wrong in two places. They use the plain adjective where Japanese needs the adverb — 早い起きます — because English "fast" and "hard" have no -ly. And they forget that いい becomes よく: よくなりました, "it got better".
The form
stem (regular) stem (irregular) ending auxiliary verb
| early (adverb) | 早く |
| quietly | 静かに |
| well (from いい) | よく |
| to become expensive | 高くなる |
| to become quiet | 静かになる |
| to get better | よくなる |
| to make clean | きれいにする |
| a noun: to become a doctor | 医者になる |
The rules one by one
An i-adjective becomes an adverb by changing い to く.
毎朝早く起きます。I get up early every morning.
A na-adjective becomes an adverb by adding に.
子どもたちは元気に遊んでいます。The children are playing energetically.
く or に plus なる says that something changes.
日本語が上手になりました。My Japanese has improved.
く or に plus する says that somebody makes it so.
テレビの音を小さくしてください。Please turn the TV down.
いい becomes よく, in both uses.
風邪はよくなりましたか。Is your cold better?
A closer look
Not every adverb is made this way
Many of the commonest adverbs are words of their own, not adjectives with く: とても, すぐ, ゆっくり, もっと. They have to be learned as vocabulary, and they are not interchangeable with the く forms. "Slowly" is usually ゆっくり; 遅く mostly means "late", as in 遅く起きる, "to get up late".
なりました also deserves a second look. English says "It's got cold" or even "It's cold now"; Japanese reports the change: 暖かくなりましたね. When a Japanese speaker comments on the weather, the season or a child who has grown, the past of なる is usually what they reach for.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
-
the adjective is 近い or 遠い
the く form also works as a place noun: 駅の近く, "near the station", 遠くの山, "the mountains in the distance".
家の近くにスーパーがあります。There is a supermarket near my house.
Distance is easier to talk about as a place than as a manner, and these two adverbs became nouns for places.
How to spot it
- 〜く
- 〜に
- 〜くなる
- 〜になる
- 〜くする
- 〜にする
Example sentences
もう少し大きく書いてください。Please write a little bigger.
最近、日が短くなりましたね。The days have got shorter recently, haven't they?
駅の近くはとても便利になりました。The area near the station has become very convenient.
髪を短くしました。I had my hair cut short.
弟は来年、大学生になります。My younger brother will be a university student next year.
部屋をきれいにしてから出かけます。I will tidy my room and then go out.
8 more example sentences
もう少し安くなりませんか。Could you make it a little cheaper?
子どもが生まれて、家がにぎやかになりました。Since the baby was born, the house has become lively.
夜になって、急に寒くなりました。When night fell, it suddenly got cold.
字をきれいに書きましょう。Let's write neatly.
料理が上手になりたいです。I want to get good at cooking.
電気を明るくしてもいいですか。May I make the light brighter?
彼は親切に道を教えてくれました。He kindly showed me the way.
風が強くなりました。The wind has got stronger.
Worth knowing (2)
-
よく has more than one job
よく, the adverb of いい, means "well" (よく寝ました, "I slept well"), but it also means "often", and that second sense is at least as common. The verb usually tells you which one is meant.
父はよくこの店に来ます。My father often comes to this shop.
-
にする with a noun: "I will have"
A noun plus にする means "to decide on", and it is how you order in a café or choose in a shop. It is the same にする as above — you make your choice the coffee.
私はコーヒーにします。I will have coffee.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The い form of an adjective describes a noun or ends a sentence; it cannot describe a verb. To say how something is done, the adjective has to become 早く. English "early" and "fast" look the same as adjectives and adverbs, which is exactly why this slips through.
Change い to く, add に to a na-adjective: that is the adverb, and with なる it becomes change.
Your turn
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