Adverbs In Japanese Grammar

Adverbs in Japanese are not as tightly integrated into the morphology as in many other languages. Indeed, adverbs are not an independent class of words, but rather a role played by other words. For example, every adjective in the continuative form can be used as an adverb; thus, 弱い (yowai, weak, adj) → 弱く (yowaku, weakly, adv). The primary distinguishing characteristic of adverbs is that they cannot occur in a predicate position, just as it is in English. The following classification of adverbs is not intended to be authoritative or exhaustive.

Verbal adverbs : are verbs in the continuative form with the particle ni. Eg. 見る (miru, to see) → 見に (mi ni, for the purpose of seeing), used for instance as: 見に行く (mi ni iku, go to see (sth.)).

Adjectival adverbs : are adjectives in the continuative form, as mentioned above.

Nominal adverbs : are grammatical nouns that function as adverbs. Examples: あまり (amari, a little/not a lot), どう (dō, how), 一番 (ichiban, most highly), etc.

Sound Symbolism : are words that mimic sounds or concepts. Examples: きらきら (kirakira, sparklingly), ぽっくり (pokkuri, suddenly), するする (surusuru, smoothly (sliding)), etc.

Often, especially for sound symbolism, the particle to ("as if") is used.

Below you will find an useful links to learn Japanese grammar in more details. Good Luck!

Japanese Verbs
Learn Japanese Adjectives
Types Of Adjectives
List Of Japanese Adjectives
Pronouns
Learn About Nouns
Learn About Adverbs