Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat

ずつ

ずつ Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Particle

Construction: 

  • Quantifier + ずつ
    • E.g. 一人ひとりずつ [One person at a time]
    • E.g. 二枚にまいずつ [Two pages at a time]

Notes:

  • ずつ is a particle that means “At a time” (e.g. “Two at a time“). It emphasizes the even distribution of some quantity. Thus, ずつ must be paired with a quantifier.
    • E.g. 毎月まいつき３冊さつずつ本ほんを買かっています。[I buy 3 books every month.] In this sentence, ずつ places emphasis on the uniform quantity of books being bought every month.
    • E.g. 私わたしは漢字かんじを毎日まいにち五いつつずつ覚おぼえる。[I memorize 5 kanji every day.] This sentence emphasizes the equal distribution of kanji being memorized each day.

Example Sentences:

私わたしは漢字かんじを毎日まいにち五いつつずつ覚おぼえる。[I memorize 5 kanji every day.]

ゴルフが少すこしずつ上手じょうずになって来きた。[I have gradually improved at golf little by little.]

私わたしは子供こどもたちに本ほんを二冊にさつずつやった。[I gave each of the children two books.]

どのクラスにも女子じょし学生がくせいが六人ろくにんずついた。[There were six female students in every class.]

WILD Examples:

Listen to this line at 0:24: 九月くがつがすぎて、少すこしずつ [September is passing by, little by little]
Listen to this line from 2:03: 砂すなに塗まみれて、波なみに揺ゆられて、少すこしずつ変かわってゆく、この海うみを [This sea is covered with sand, It’s rocked by waves, It’s always changing little by little.]

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