Frequency Adverbs Compared – Japanese Cheat Sheet

Japanese has a rich set of frequency adverbs, but learners often mix up the ones in the middle of the scale especially たいてい vs だいたい, and ほとんど vs あまり. This sheet maps them all out with percentages and example sentences.

The frequency scale

Word	Reading	Approx. %	Meaning	Positive or negative verb?
いつも	itsumo	100%	always, all the time	positive
たいてい	taitei	~80%	usually, mostly	positive
だいたい	daitai	~80%	generally, roughly	positive
よく	yoku	~70%	often, frequently	positive
ときどき	tokidoki	~30–50%	sometimes	positive
たまに	tama ni	~10–20%	occasionally, once in a while	positive
ほとんど	hotondo	~5% or ~95%	hardly ever / almost always	both (flips with negative)
あまり	amari	~20%	not very often	negative only
ぜんぜん	zenzen	0%	not at all, never	negative only

Key rule: あまり and ぜんぜん require a negative verb

These two words only work with a negative verb ending (ません・ない). Using them with a positive verb is a very common mistake.

✗ Wrong

あまり食たべます。

あまり needs a negative verb

✓ Correct

あまり食たべません。

I don't eat very much.

✗ Wrong

ぜんぜん大丈夫だいじょうぶです。

(in formal/standard Japanese)

✓ Correct

ぜんぜん分わかりません。

I don't understand at all.

Note: ぜんぜん大丈夫 is used in very casual modern speech to mean "totally fine", but this is informal slang avoid it in formal situations.

たいてい vs だいたい what's the difference?

Both translate as "usually / generally" but have slightly different flavors:

たいてい

Refers to habits and routines. "I usually do X." Focuses on how often something happens.

だいたい

Refers to approximation. "X is roughly / generally the case." Also used for amounts and times.

たいてい朝あさご飯はんを食たべます。I usually eat breakfast. (routine habit)

だいたい一時間いちじかんかかります。It takes roughly one hour. (approximation)

だいたい分わかった。I mostly understood. / I get the gist.

ほとんど flips meaning with the verb

Positive verb → almost all

ほとんど食たべた。

I ate almost all of it.

Negative verb → hardly any

ほとんど食たべなかった。

I hardly ate anything.

One sentence per word

いつも

彼女かのじょはいつも笑わらっている。

She's always smiling.

よく

この映画館えいがかんによく来くます。

I come to this cinema often.

たいてい

たいてい七時しちじに起おきます。

I usually wake up at 7.

ときどき

ときどき友達ともだちと飲のみに行いく。

I sometimes go out drinking with friends.

たまに

たまにケーキを焼やく。

I bake cakes once in a while.

あまり

野菜やさいはあまり好すきじゃない。

I don't really like vegetables.

ぜんぜん

昨日きのうはぜんぜん眠ねむれなかった。

I couldn't sleep at all last night.

Quick check: If you're using あまり or ぜんぜん, the verb at the end of the sentence must be negative. If it isn't, swap the adverb for one that works with positives.