#n2 vocab

queenofglitcheslearnsjapanese:

Adverbs are easily the hardest part of learning new vocabulary for me. They can completely alter the meaning of a sentence but they just slip from my mind so easily, I often need to read them in a wide variety of sentences before the meaning will stick in my head. Very occasionally, they will just stick but more often than not, I’ll end up having to look it up despite knowing I’ve seen it before. A giant list is probably not the most useful way of presenting these, but I intend to use this as a basis for an Anki deck, which should hopefully get some of these to finally stick in my head.

Starting with ones that I can remember without any trouble (finally):

まるで－quite, entirely, as if, as though
わざと－on purpose
一切－いっさい－all, everything, the whole
ようやく－finally, at last
いつの間にか－いつのまにか－before one knows it
一応－いちおう－roughly, somewhat, once, tentatively, just in case
ひょっとする－perhaps, maybe, possibly
既に－すでに－already, too late
何とか－なんとか－something or other, so-and-so
必死に－ひっしに－frantically, desperately
早速－さっそく－at once, immediately
そのまま－without change, as it is
めったに－rarely, seldom (used with verbs in negative form)
万一－まんいち－by some chance

Next, ones that either take me a couple of seconds to remember or that I can work out the meaning of:

改めて－あらためて－another time, again, over again
中でも－なかでも－among (other things)
近々－ちかぢか－soon, before long
はるかに－far off, in the distance, long ago
案外－あんがい－unexpectedly
自ら－みずから－for one’s self, personally
よほど－very, greatly
当分－とうぶん－for the present, currently 

And finally, a whole load of adverbs that just won’t stay in my head.

ちっとも－not at all (used with verbs in negative form)
めっきり－remarkably
まさに－exactly, surely, certainly
思い切って－おもいきって－resolutely, boldly, daringly
しきりに－frequently, repeatedly, often
かえって－on the contrary, rather, instead
あらかじめ－beforehand, in advance, previously
ぐっと－suddenly, at once, in one go
たちまち－at once, in a moment, suddenly
今に－before long, even now
わずか－only, merely
実に－じつに－indeed, really, absolutely
ぼんやり－dimly, faintly, vaguely
一段と－いちだんと－more, much more
決まって－きまって－always, without fail, usually
ひとまず－for the present, once, in outline
次第に－しだいに－gradually
せっせと－diligently, industriously
必ずしも－かならずしも－(not) always, (not) necessarily, (not) entirely
じっくり－deliberately, carefully

This isn’t the full list of adverbs that are needed at N2 level, just the ones I picked out from maybe the first fifth of my book. There’s still many more that I struggle to remember, including all the ones that include 今, so you can probably expect another list like this at some point.