あまり～ない

あまり～ない is used to express that something is "not very," "not much," or "not really" the case. It softens a negative statement, indicating that something occurs to a limited degree or that a quality is not strongly present. あまり always pairs with a negative form – this is a key rule to remember.

With verbs

Place あまり before the verb in its negative form to express that an action doesn't happen much or often.

With i-adjectives

Place あまり before the i-adjective in its negative form to express that something is not very [adjective].

With na-adjectives

Place あまり before the na-adjective followed by じゃない or ではない.

Polite form: あんまり

In casual spoken Japanese, あまり is often pronounced あんまり. The meaning is the same, but あんまり sounds more colloquial.

Common mistake

A common mistake is using あまり with an affirmative form. Unlike English "not very," the negative must always be present in the Japanese sentence. You cannot say ×あまり食べる – it must be あまり食べない.