どのくらい
Two of these words refuse to finish a sentence
いつも, よく, ときどき — these only mean anything next to each other.
ときどき みます
あまり and ぜんぜん set up a negative. The verb has to finish it.
あまり みません
そして adds, それから comes next, でも turns it round — all start a new sentence.
でも、たかいです
あまり テレビを みます。
…みません、 ですね。あまりは かならず ひていです。
どのくらい？
These five words only mean anything relative to each other, so here they are as a scale rather than a list. Notice the bottom two are marked — they can't be used the way the top three can. 🔊 Tap any row to hear the sentence.
かならず ひてい
Here is the one real rule in this unit. あまり and ぜんぜん are half of a pair. They set up a negative, and the verb or adjective has to supply the other half.
These two are half of a pair. They set up a negative and the verb has to finish it, so あまり たべます is not a weaker sentence — it is an unfinished one, the way “I hardly” is unfinished in English. Use them with ない-form or 〜ません and they are perfectly ordinary; use them with a plain positive and a Japanese speaker will wait for the rest.
あまり たべます isn't a weaker sentence — it's an unfinished one. English has the same shape: “I hardly” leaves your listener waiting, because hardly has set something up that hasn't landed yet. Japanese does that with these two words every single time, and because they otherwise look like ordinary adverbs the mistake tends to survive for years.
ぶんを つなぐ
Three joining words and one particle. All of them start a new sentence — unlike the 〜て of Unit 13, which joins inside one. This is the small change that makes two sentences read as one thought.
そして adds something of the same kind — “and also”. それから adds the next thing in time — “and after that”. でも turns the sentence around: “but”. All three start a NEW sentence. They are not the 〜て of Unit 13, which joins inside one sentence; these join across a full stop.
と from Unit 38 lists things completely: やさいと くつ means those two and nothing else. や picks out examples from a longer list, and など on the end says so out loud — “…and so on”.
かいわ
Four exchanges. Watch how naturally でも and それから do their work once you have them.
よく えいがを みますか。
Do you often watch films?
ときどき みます。でも、あまり じかんが ありません。
Sometimes. But I don't have much time.
おさけを のみますか。
Do you drink?
いいえ、ぜんぜん のみません。
No, not at all.
しゅうまつは なにを しますか。
What do you do at the weekend?
うちで やすみます。それから、こうえんへ いきます。
I rest at home. After that I go to the park.
どんな ものが すきですか。
What kind of things do you like?
すしや おちゃなどが すきです。
Sushi, tea and things like that.
クイズ
Twelve questions, half of them on the negative rule — asked from both directions: choose the adverb for a negative sentence, and choose the ending for a sentence that already has あまり in it.
Question 1 / 12 · 0 correct