Expressing degrees of adjectives

J44xm

経験値が足りない

6 Dec 2004

556

13

• 2 Sep 2005

• #1

I'm curious about words that express varying degrees of some quality. In short, how would the following be translated?

1. It's not hot (at all).
2. It's slightly (or, a bit) hot.
3. It's moderately hot.
4. It's pretty/rather hot.
5. It's very hot.
6. It's extremely hot!
7. Could it be any hotter?! or It couldn't be any hotter!

Is Japanese more or less precise about this sort of thing? There seem to be many words for expressing the concept of "very," so I figure there might be degrees of "very" (much as English has "very," "pretty," "exceedingly," etc.). And I learn best from examples. Thanks!

 

V

vorpar

先輩

5 Sep 2004

40

2

• 3 Sep 2005

• #2

I could only find a couple of those (just working through a beginning textbook)

1. あつくありません
atsukuarimasen
２．ちょっとあついです
chotto atsuidesu
５．とてもあついです
totemo atsuidesu
6. ものすごくあついです
monosugoku atsuidesu

 

Buntaro

運動不足

Twenty-year veteran

27 Dec 2003

2,854

2,103

• 3 Sep 2005

• #3

J44xm,




1. It's not hot (at all).
Zenzen atsukunai desu.


2. It's slightly (or, a bit) hot.
Chotto atsui desu.


3. It's moderately hot.
Maa maa atsui desu.


4. It's pretty/rather hot.
Kekko atsui desu.
or
Zuibun atsui desu.


5. It's very hot.
Totemu atsui desu.
or Taihen atsui desu.


6. It's extremely hot!
Sugoku atsui desu.
or Mono sugoku atsui desu.

 

Glenn

一切皆苦

8 Jan 2004

7,842

200

• 3 Sep 2005

• #4

Also be sure to check out かなり, なかなか, そんなに, and それほど. I think you could even use まず in this situation. I'm sure there are others, too, but this is all I can think of right now. By the way, what 英和・和英 are you using?

[edit] I just remembered that you can say "not very/too Adj" by using は with negation. E.g. 暑くはない -- "it's not too hot."

See this message. NB: it explains about は usage in general, so it may be helpful for you in that regard as well.

 

J44xm

経験値が足りない

6 Dec 2004

556

13

• 4 Sep 2005

• Thread starter
• #5

I use WWWJDIC when I can and I have a Random House dictionary.

Thanks to all for the excellent help!

 

Buntaro

運動不足

Twenty-year veteran

27 Dec 2003

2,854

2,103

• 4 Sep 2005

• #6

Oh yeah, two more.

Atsusugiru desu.

--> It's too hot.

Ase ga dette iru hodo atsui desu.

--> It it so hot I am sweating.

 

Elizabeth

先輩

22 Apr 2003

9,839

135

• 4 Sep 2005

• #7

I would say the most common adverbs for "very/extremely" hot are probably
"kanari, totemo and sugoku" followed by hijouni, taihen etc. Translations being the fuzzy result they usually are these degrees of difference blend into one most of the time.

"Daibu atsui" is also possible for "rather"...."Zuibun" sounds quite a bit stronger than that to me, although it's hard to factor in the understood understatement in
"slightly hot" or "rather hot" for those people concerned about not complaining directly.

 

Glenn

一切皆苦

8 Jan 2004

7,842

200

• 4 Sep 2005

• #8

J44xm said:

I use WWWJDIC when I can and I have a Random House dictionary.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I think you're probably better off with the WWWJDIC than any print dictionary. At least I haven't been able to find one that's really good. My personal preference is the dictionary at goo, but then again I haven't used WWWJDIC all that much.

Buntaro said:

Ase ga dette iru hodo atsui desu.

Click to expand...

*ahem* That should be dete (出て).

 

Buntaro

運動不足

Twenty-year veteran

27 Dec 2003

2,854

2,103

• 4 Sep 2005

• #9

Glenn,

Sorry for the mistake. Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow....

 

Elizabeth

先輩

22 Apr 2003

9,839

135

• 4 Sep 2005

• #10

I suppose you could use "Kaite iru" for a sweat that happens as well as one worked up, it's certainly a lot more common than deru.

 

Glenn

一切皆苦

8 Jan 2004

7,842

200

• 4 Sep 2005

• #11

Buntaro said:

Glenn,

Sorry for the mistake. Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow....

Click to expand...

It's no problem. I know I've made my fair share.

 

V

vorpar

先輩

5 Sep 2004

40

2

• 4 Sep 2005

• #12

Can you use ぜんぜん that way? (ぜんぜんあつくない）

It looks like "It's never hot" rather than "It's not hot"

 

Glenn

一切皆苦

8 Jan 2004

7,842

200

• 4 Sep 2005

• #13

Looks like "it's not hot at all" to me.

全然分からない -- I don't understand at all.
全然見えない -- I can't see anything at all.
全然よくない -- It's not good at all.

etc etc

 

Elizabeth

先輩

22 Apr 2003

9,839

135

• 4 Sep 2005

• #14

vorpar said:

Can you use ぜんぜん that way? (ぜんぜんあつくない）

It looks like "It's never hot" rather than "It's not hot"

Click to expand...

Expressing "is never" in Japanese can be very tricky at times.
In this case, one of the following are probably what you're looking for.

夏（で）も暑くない、決して暑くない or いつも暑くない。。。

 

Buntaro

運動不足

Twenty-year veteran

27 Dec 2003

2,854

2,103

• 6 Sep 2005

• #15

J44xm-san!

Are you ready for Degrees of Periodicity, like often, seldom, once in a while, or do you know those already?

 

J44xm

経験値が足りない

6 Dec 2004

556

13

• 9 Sep 2005

• Thread starter
• #16

Sorry for the delay, Buntaro-san! I don't know those at all but I'm definitely ready!

 

Buntaro

運動不足

Twenty-year veteran

27 Dec 2003

2,854

2,103

• 14 Sep 2005

• #17

J44xm-san!

I have not forgotten about this thread, but I have awfully busy recently. Is there anyone out there who wants to list all the words like tamani, shibashiba, etc.?