adverb + と vs. に

Hello,

Some adverbs seem to be used with both と or に. For example: 次々と/次々に, 意外と/意外に, etc. I've known about this since long ago, but I never asked about it for some reason.

So, is there any general difference between adverb + と and adverb + に?

The one I encountered most recently is 次々と vs. 次々に. According to 次々とと次々にの違いとは？なるほど！なっとく！2つの違い and to the best answer from 「次々と」と「次々に」の区別は？:

• と puts the emphasis on the adverb, the way in which the action is done
• に puts the emphasis on the action

Is this correct and is this true in general for adverb + と vs. に?

You need to differentiate 次々 and 意外. 意外 is the stem of a na-adjective, and 意外 can't be used as an adverb solely, so 意外に is an adverbial form of na-adjective, not "adverb + に". As in the explanations in the dictionaries quoted in the page linked below, 意外に is the correct form, and 意外と is originally from a broken informal form.

As for 次々と vs. 次々に, it seems to me that they are almost the same in meaning. It differs depending of the adverb even whether both と and に can be used or not, so it would be hard to say about general differences.

〇段々に
〇段々と

〇たちまちに
×たちまちと

×ゆっくりに
〇ゆっくりと

Thanks! That pretty much clarifies everything.

Regarding the na-adjectives, is it generally true that ～に is the correct form and ～と is a broken informal form? For example, another one that I remember is 自然に/自然と.

EDIT: Actually, I just checked and the dictionary lists 自然 both as 形動 and 副, so I'm not really sure what to think of it...

Notice that I wrote "意外と is originally from a broken informal form", i.e., I don't mean 意外と is a broken informal form. 意外と is accepted as a common adverb/adverbial form now, as dictionaries mention in the page linked above.

自然 indeed can be used solely as an adverb, but this usage is rare.

Incidentally, there seems to be a difference in meaning between 自然と and 自然に.
e.g.
彼は人柄がいいから、自然と周りに人が集まってくる。
In the sentence above, I think 自然と is more natural than 自然に. 自然と would be more preferred when having a nuance "as a result" rather than "naturally, without any reason", in my impression.

Here's other examples.
相当
〇彼は相当な力を持っている。
〇彼は相当の力を持っている。

〇彼は相当力を持っている。
〇彼は相当に力を持っている。
×彼は相当と力を持っている。

〇彼が/の持っている力は相当だ。

It seems that the main function of 相当 is a na-adjective, and 相当 and 相当の can be used as an adverb and attributive form, too, respectively.

Note that 相当な can't be used when meaning "equivalent to", unlike "considerable".
e.g.
〇3000万円相当の損害
×3000万円相当な損害


結構
〇彼は結構な力を持っている。
×彼は結構の力を持っている。

〇彼は結構力を持っている。
×彼は結構に力を持っている。
×彼は結構と力を持っている。

×彼が/の持っている力は結構だ。

The main function of 結構 seems to be an adverb rather than a na-adjective, and 結構な would be more likely a non-conjugate attributive(連体詞), similar to 大きな or 小さな, than an attributive form of na-adjective.

Note that 結構だ is valid for the meaning "It's/I'm OK that ~" or "I don't need~".


These are also reasons of "hard to say about general differences".

Toritoribe said:

Notice that I wrote "意外と is originally from a broken informal form", i.e., I don't mean 意外と is a broken informal form. 意外と is accepted as a common adverb/adverbial form now, as dictionaries mention in the page linked above.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I missed that. Thanks for pointing it out.

I see. So there is just too much variety to make generalizations. Thank you!