文法の説明

N4 レッスン 3: 13/18

余(あま)り～ない

Not very, Not much, Not really, Hardly

使い方・接続

あまり(1) + Verb［ない］
あまり(1) + ［い］Adjective［ない］
あまり(1) + Noun + ではない(2)
あまり + ［な］Adjective + ではない(2)

(1) あんまり
(2) じゃない

詳細

  • 使用域

    Standard

  • 使用域

    一般

「あまり～ない」の情報

あまり is a very flexible word in Japanese, that is used in several different grammar points. When paired with the ない form of a word, it translates to 'not very (A)', or 'hardly (A)'. To pair あまり (or the casual form, あんまり) with another word, we just need to place it at the beginning of a phrase, or directly before the ない statement.
  • 今(いま)の時間(じかん)だったらあまり並(なら)ばないと思うよ。
    At this time, I think we would not have to stand in line for very long.
  • 私(わたし)には犬(いぬ)がいるからあまり寂(さび)しくない。
    I have a dog, so I don't feel lonely very much.
  • 最近(さいきん)はどこもあまり平和(へいわ)ではない。
    Recently, nowhere has been very peaceful.
  • そこの肉屋(にくや)の肉(にく)はあまりいい肉(にく)ではない。
    Meat from that butcher over there is hardly good.
Fun Fact
Although あまり～ない is regularly translated as 'not very' the literal translation is closer to 'not excessively (A)'. This is due to 余(あま)り (the kanji which this word comes from), meaning 'excessive', or 'to be in excess'.
あまり has this meaning of 'excessive' in all of its grammar points, and the nuance will only change based on whether the sentence itself is positive (does not use ない), or negative (uses ない).

例文

  • このケーキはあまり美味(おい)しくない。

    This cake isn't very delicious.

  • あまり肉(にく)を食(た)べない。

    I don't eat very much meat.

  • あまりいい車(くるま)ではないけど、走(はし)れるからいいんじゃない？

    This car isn't that great, but it runs so that's good enough, right?

    This sentence uses the potential form 走れる which we'll learn about later here.

  • あまり大変(たいへん)なことではないから、心配(しんぱい)いらないよ。

    It isn't that big of a deal, so you don't have to worry.

  • 寿司(すし)をあまり食(た)べたいと思(おも)わない。

    I don't really think I want to eat sushi.

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「あまり～ない」に関する文法ディスカッション

最近の返信 (合計14件)

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    @Pep95
    Hey

    Yes, it is exactly the same あまり！

    Cheers!

  • driscoll

    driscoll

    I’m a bit confused as to where the あまりgoes + the negative good. The one with “This car isn’t that great”
    is あまり いい車くるまではない

    But why isn’t it この車はあまりよくない like the example for “This cake isn’t very delicious.”

  • Fuga

    Fuga

    Hey there @driscoll !

    あまり comes right before adjectives, verbs, and nouns. あまりいい車くるまではない, and この車はあまりよくない may seem similar, but it has a slight (very slight) difference in nuance, but it is just mostly a difference in how the sentence was ordered. It similar to saying ‘this car isn’t that great’ and ‘this isn’t a great car’. The nuance of those sentences change a little depending on the context, but other than word order, the meaning is basically the same.

    We hope that help!

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