とうとう

• 読み: とうとう
• ローマ字: toutou
• 発音: /to.ɯ.to.ɯ/

意味

Finally; at last; in the end. Emphasises that something happened after a prolonged period.

An adverb similar to ついに but more colloquial and often used for outcomes that were inevitable. とうとう雨が降った (it finally rained — as expected). Commonly carries the nuance that the result was foreseeable. Can express both positive and negative outcomes but is especially natural with events that had been building up.

例文

1. 雨がとうとう止んだ。
2. 彼女はとうとう怒ってしまった。
3. とうとう最終電車に乗り遅れた。

使い方ガイド

場面: outcomes, narrative, daily life

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

Written 到頭 in kanji, where 到 means to arrive and 頭 means head/beginning. Together they suggest arriving at the very end — the final culmination of a process.

文化的背景

時代: Ancient

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal