► 副詞
やっと [やっと] meaning: finally rank: 1
☆ 彼は20年後にやっと家族と再会した ⇨ He finally reunited with his family after 20 years (☛ Implies being belated)
☆ 彼は五回目でやっと試験に合格した ⇨ He finally passed the exam after 5 tries (☛ Implies something should’ve happened a lot earlier and more easily)
☆ 彼の長話がやっと終わった ⇨ His long-winded story finally ended (☛ Something annoyingly long and boring to end is always やっと)
いよいよ [(2)いよいよ] meaning: finally rank: 2
☆ 最終試験はいよいよ明日だ ⇨ The day of the final exam will finally arrive tomorrow (☛ Something is about to happen after a long wait)
☆ 試合はいよいよ大詰めだ ⇨ The game has finally reached the climax (☛ Something is about to happen after a long wait)
遂に [(1)ついに] [liter] meaning: finally rank: 2
☆ 十年の工事の末、橋は遂に完成した ⇨ After 10 years of construction, the bridge was finally completed
☆ 彼は長年の無念の末に遂にウィンブルドンに優勝した ⇨ He finally won the Wimbledon after many years of disappointment (☛ Usually positive connotations, as finally achieving the goal after much effort)
到頭 [(1)とうとう] meaning: finally rank: 2
☆ 懸命に調査したが、本当の事は到頭分からなかった ⇨ We investigated the best we could, but never found out the truth in the end
☆ 無理をし続けていたら到頭本当に病気になってしまった ⇨ I was pushing too hard and got really sick in the end (☛ Something to finally reach, usually an undesirable but expected result)
漸く [ようやく] [liter] meaning: finally rank: 2
☆ 工事は漸く完成に近づいた ⇨ The construction is finally getting close to completion (☛ Implies being belated)
ようやっと [ようやっと] meaning: finally rank: 3
☆ 彼はようやっと試験に合格した ⇨ He finally passed the exam (☛ Implies something should’ve happened a lot earlier and more easily)
► 成句
仕舞 [しまい] [仕舞に] meaning: finally rank: 2
☆ 手入れもせずに使っていたら仕舞に壊れてしまった ⇨ I’d used it without any maintenance and it finally broke
仕舞 [しまい] [仕舞には] meaning: finally rank: 2
☆ 彼女はいつまでも文句を言い続けるので仕舞には嫌になった ⇨ She just kept complaining and I finally got fed up