愈々(いよいよ)At last, Finally, More and more

Structure

いよいよ + Phrase

Details

About いよいよ

愈々(いよいよ), seen primarily in hiragana, is an adverb that indicates that (A) has or will 'finally happen'. In many cases this is after some state that has been continuing for a long time, or has been compounding further and further until (A).

Like many other sentence altering adverbs, いよいよ will appear at the beginning of a phrase. It is also considered quite casual when compared to other grammar points like ついに.

As いよいよ highlights something that is compounding, it can also frequently be translated as 'more and more'.

The difference between the nuance of いよいよ being 'finally' or 'more and more' will usually be clear due to the statement following it being either conclusive (finally), or inconclusive (more and more).

Synonyms

Examples

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愈々(いよいよ)春(はる)がやって来(き)た。

Spring has finally arrived.

じゃ、愈々(いよいよ)俺(おれ)の番(ばん)だ！

Finally, it's my turn.

愈々(いよいよ)夏休(なつやす)みが始(はじ)まった！

Summer vacation has finally begun!

愈々(いよいよ)大学(だいがく)を卒業(そつぎょう)する！

I have finally graduated college!

愈々(いよいよ)ステージが始(はじ)まる。わくわくしてきた。

The performance will finally start. I am getting excited.

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Online
- いよいよ、やっと、ようやく、ついに and とうとう
  Japanese StackExchange
- Difference between いよいよ and とうとう
  Japan Times
- Additional Breakdown and Example Sentences
  JapaneseTest4You

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いよいよ – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (3 in total)

Hadros232232
What’s the difference between いよいよ and とうとう?
Fuga
Hey @Hadros232232 !

いよいよ has a positive nuance, and it is used with events that the speaker is excited about. とうとう is used when something not too exciting is going to happen soon., and has a slightly ‘negative’ nuance.

いよいよ、俺の番だ！
This sentence has the nuance of ‘It is finally my turn! I have waited so long for this moment!’

とうとう、俺の番だ。
This sentence has the nuance of ‘Ugh, I cant believe it is already my turn already.’ or ‘Ugh, it is finally my turn, how long have I waited to be called…’

We hope that this answers your question!
casual
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but in this example Japanese voice-over and English translation interpret the Japanese sentence very differently.

いよいよ初出勤か。緊張するな。
It is finally your first day at work. Don’t be nervous.

English translation assumes “don’t” な (な (JLPT N5) | Bunpro).

Japanese voice-over uses intonation for なぁ (for which I don’t see a good point to link on bunpro, but it’s very briefly mentioned in ね (JLPT N5) | Bunpro).

It’s finally my first day at work. I’m kinda nervous.

I think either interpretation could plausibly use いよいよ though.