～あまり～ない (not very, not much)

• Reading: あまり
• Romaji: amari
• Formation: あまり + Negative Verb / あまり + Negative Adjective
• Kanji breakdown: 余り — surplus, remainder, excess

Meaning

An adverb indicating that the degree of something is not great. When paired with a negative predicate, it means 'not very' or 'not much.'

あまり (or あんまり in casual speech) is almost always used with a negative predicate. あまり食べない means 'I don't eat much,' and あまり好きじゃない means 'I don't like it very much.' It softens a negative statement, making it less absolute than 全然～ない (not at all). Without a negative, あまり can mean 'too much' or 'excessively' in literary or formal contexts (あまりの暑さに倒れた — collapsed from the excessive heat), but this usage is less common in everyday conversation. The casual variant あんまり is extremely common in spoken Japanese. Note that あまり by itself modifying a noun (あまりの～) takes a different, more emphatic meaning.

Examples

1. 最近あまり運動していません。 I haven't been exercising much lately.
2. この映画はあまり面白くなかった。 This film wasn't very interesting.
3. 納豆はあまり好きではありません。 I don't like natto very much.

Usage Guide

Context: spoken, written, everyday

Tone: moderate

Do Say

• あまり無理しないでくださいね。
• その話はあまり聞いたことがない。
• 平日はあまりテレビを見ません。

Don't Say

• あまり食べます。(あまり with an affirmative verb sounds unnatural in modern speech — use あまり食べません for 'don't eat much') → あまり食べません。
• あまり全然わからない。(あまり and 全然 are both degree adverbs for negatives — choose one) → あまりわからない。

Origin & History

あまり derives from the verb 余る (amaru, meaning 'to be in excess' or 'to remain'). The negative construction あまり～ない literally suggests 'not to an excessive degree,' which evolved into the modern sense of 'not very much.'

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal