Beyond Vocabulary — Adverbs, Set Phrases & 四字熟語

Power adverbs, sentence leaders, four-character compounds, sentence cues, and set phrases for advanced expression.

Power Adverbs

Japanese	Meaning	Kanji
もう	already
まだ	still	未だ
まだ・・・ない	not yet
あいにく	unfortunately	生憎
残念(ざんねん)ながら	unfortunately
幸(さいわ)い	fortunately
しばらく	for a while	暫く
とにかく	at any rate	兎に角
確(たし)かに	certainly/indeed
ちなみに	on a related note	因みに
ついでに	while you are at it	序でに
もちろん	of course	勿論
むしろ	on the contrary	寧ろ
とりあえず	for the time being	取り敢えず
今(いま)のところ	at the moment/currently
今(いま)の内(うち)に	while the opportunity is here,
ある程度(ていど)	to a certain extent
恐(おそ)らく	most likely/I suspect
あくまでも	to the/without limitation	飽くまでも
どちらかと言(い)うと	if I had to say which

Sentence Leaders

Japanese	Meaning
それで	And that's why...
それでは	If that's the case/Well then,
ところで	By the way,
ところが	But I was surprised to find that...
だったら	In that case,
そう言(い)えば	Speaking of which,
かと言(い)って	But even so,
強(し)いて言(い)えば	If I had to say,
なんと言(い)うか	How do I put this,
それよりも	More importantly,
となると	If that's the case, then...
少(すく)なくとも	At the very least,
だからこそ	That's all the more reason...
それにしても	Despite that/Even so
いずれにしても	In any case, (>2)
どのみち/どっちみち	= いずれにしても
どちらにしても	In either case, (=2)
いざとなったら	If all else fails,
というわけで	In summary/conclusion,
思(おも)えば	Come to think of it,

4-Character Compounds: 四字熟語

Compound	Reading	Meaning
自業自得(じごうじとく)	じごうじとく	You get what you deserve
無理矢理(むりやり)	むりやり	By force
無茶苦茶(むちゃくちゃ)	むちゃくちゃ	Absurd/messed up
一石二鳥(いっせきにちょう)	いっせきにちょう	Two birds with one stone
一生懸命(いっしょうけんめい)	いっしょうけんめい	With all one's might
中途半端(ちゅうとはんぱ)	ちゅうとはんぱ	A poor/incomplete effort
弱肉強食(じゃくにくきょうしょく)	じゃくにくきょうしょく	Survival of the fittest
単刀直入(たんとうちょくにゅう)	たんとうちょくにゅう	Not beating around the bush
油断大敵(ゆだんたいてき)	ゆだんたいてき	Negligence is a foe to be reckoned with
十人十色(じゅうにんといろ)	じゅうにんといろ	Every person is unique
一期一会(いちごいちえ)	いちごいちえ	The encounter of a lifetime
自画自賛(じがじさん)	じがじさん	Praising one's own work
一目瞭然(いちもくりょうぜん)	いちもくりょうぜん	Obvious at a glance
一心不乱(いっしんふらん)	いっしんふらん	Completely focused on one thing
無我夢中(むがむちゅう)	むがむちゅう	Lost in/absorbed in/enthralled
一部始終(いちぶしじゅう)	いちぶしじゅう	The entirety (from start to finish)
二者択一(にしゃたくいつ)	にしゃたくいつ	An either/or choice
試行錯誤(しこうさくご)	しこうさくご	Trial and error
三日坊主(みっかぼうず)	みっかぼうず	An early quitter (lit. "3-day monk")
紆余曲折(うよきょくせつ)	うよきょくせつ	Many twists and turns/complications

Sentence Cues

Cue Words

These "cue words" hint at the meaning/grammar which follows, but are not always paired exactly according to this chart.

Cue Word	Expected Follow-up	Meaning
もしも	〜えば／〜たら	if...
もしかして	かもしれない	maybe...
ひょっとして	(a question)	it's unlikely, but...?
なぜならば	からだ	the reason is that...
さぞかし	だろう	it sure sounds like... (expressing empathy)
丸(まる)で	〜のよう	it's as if/as though...
あたかも	〜のよう	it's as if/as though...
いかにも	〜らしい	it's very typical/characteristic of...
どうやら	〜みたい	it would seem that...
道理(どうり)で	わけだ	well that sure explains why...
てっきり	〜と思(おも)った	I was sure that... (but was wrong)
一応(いちおう)	けど／が	for what it's worth, ... (but even so...)
あまりにも	〜すぎる	it's far too...
果(は)たして	だろうか	but when all is said and done, will it really...?
結局(けっきょく)	(some disappointment)	but unfortunately in the end,...
せめて	くらい（+ desire/command）	you should at least.../I at least want...
〜からと言(い)って	〜ない	just because ~, doesn't mean...
よくも	したな！	(expresses anger or surprise at someone's action)
ただでさえ	のに、	even normally it's ~, so ... is out of the question.
いっそのこと	〜えばいい、方(ほう)がいい	in that case, might as well just...

ひょっとして vs もしかして

ひょっとして can also be used with the same meaning as もしかして.

Set Phrases

Japanese	Meaning
仕方(しかた)がない	it can't be helped
念(ねん)のために	just in case
場合(ばあい)による	it depends on the situation
時間(じかん)の問題(もんだい)	just a matter of time
遅(おそ)かれ早(はや)かれ	sooner or later
どうしようもない	unable to be dealt with
当(あ)てにならない	to be unreliable
取(と)り返(かえ)しが付(つ)かない	can't be undone/reversed
見当(けんとう)が付(つ)かない	haven't the slightest clue
手間(てま)がかかる	requires great trouble/effort
手間(てま)をかける	to go to great lengths
けりを付(つ)ける	to wind/finish things up
なるようになる	it will happen as it was destined to
やむを得(え)ない	it can't be avoided
高(たか)が知(し)れている	something of little value
高(たか)が知(し)れない	something of great value
途方(とほう)に暮(く)れる	to be in a difficult position
なす術(すべ)もない	to have no way to counter
立(た)つ瀬(せ)がない	to have lost one's reputation
腑(ふ)に落(お)ちない	something doesn't sit right
埒(らち)が明(あ)かない	unable to reach an agreement
理(り)に適(かな)っている	to make sense/be logical

Icons & Badges Reference

Usage Icons

話Used primarily in spoken Japanese

書Used primarily in written Japanese

男Used mostly by men

女Used mostly by women

子Used mostly by children

古Old / Archaic expression

硬Used in formal / stiff situations

!Use with caution (not for superiors)

!!Vulgar / expresses anger or disapproval

上Advanced (JLPT N2–N1)

★Reference-only (beyond JLPT scope)

↓Footnote

✕Incorrect usage

○Correct usage

Form Badges

NNoun

NONoun followed by the particle の

NANoun followed by な

TIMENoun indicating time

LOCNoun indicating location/place

ADJAdjective (i-adjective or na-adjective)

i-ADJi-Adjective (e.g. 高い)

na-ADJna-Adjective (e.g. 元気な)

VERB"Nounable" verb form

PASTPast-tense verb (〜た、〜ていた、etc.)

-U/-TAPresent or past verb (non-negative)

NAINegative form

-U/NAIPresent tense verb (regular or negative)

VERB+の"Nounable" verb form followed by の

SURUSuru-verb stem word (noun)

Verb Form Suffixes

-IVerb -I form (連用形)

-UVerb -U form (終止形)

-EVerb -E form (仮定形)

-OUVerb -OU form (意志形)

-TEVerb -TE form (て形)

-TAVerb -TA form (た形)

-TE+たVerb -TE form + past