Amazingly, It's Adverbs

In this Topic, we're going to learn more about Japanese adverbs. We'll do this by first looking at some common adverbs 結構(けっこう) and 沢山(たくさん), which respectively mean something like 'quite' and 'a lot'. Better knowing how adverbs work will allow us to add more flavor and range of expression to our Japanese.

このトピックに出てくる文法

今すぐ学習する

けっこう
Quite, A lot, Fairly, Rather
結構(けっこう) is a な-Adjective that is actually used more frequently as a sentence altering adverb, than it is as a な-Adjective. What this means is that it is regularly used before an entire phrase (without な or だ), and it will modify the entire sentence. The most common meaning that 結構(けっこう) has is 'quite' (a bit/a lot).
Fun Fact

結構(けっこう) is used very similarly in Japanese to 'no thank you', or 'I'm fine thanks' in English. For example, if someone asks you if you want to try a sample in a shop, most people would just say 結構(けっこう)です.
N5 文法
たくさん
Many, A lot of, Plenty, Enough
There are many cases in Japanese where a noun will appear as an adverb, particularly with words that are describing amounts. たくさん, or 沢山(たくさん) as it is regularly seen, is one of those words. たくさん means 'a lot', or 'many' in Japanese, and can be used before a phrase, or directly before a noun, when separated via の.
Caution

たくさん may be used before a noun without also using の. However, in this case, it will feel more like たくさん is describing the whole phrase, rather than just the noun it is in front of. If you strongly want to highlight the noun, using の would be best.

In these examples, the only difference is that the sentence with の feels like the speaker is putting extra focus on the people, rather than the gathering that is happening.
N5 文法

詳細

Let's go into more detail on some points mentioned on the grammar pages, such as word order and word types.

Fairly Easy

Adverbs are simply words which describe a verb or adjective. They tell us the way in which a verb is done, or the degree of the quality described by an adjective.

With verbs, adverbs can technically be placed anywhere in a sentence but most often will come at the beginning of the verb phrase or directly before the verb itself. With adjectives, they will normally come directly before the adjective they are describing.

Slightly Tricky

Some adverbs are shapeshifters. Specifically, adverbs of quantity can often act as nouns.

As we have just learned, 沢山(たくさん) is one such example of this. When used as a noun to describe another noun, の is used to attach it to what comes next.

This pattern is also seen with other adverbs which describe quantity, including phrases which use 'counter words'. We will learn about counters in a couple of lessons from now, so the example with 三(みっ)つ is a quick look ahead!