Struggling to understand difference of 全く and 絶対(に）

Bunpro
#1

I am not following the complete route of learning all of N5 before the other levels and while working with a tutor I end up learning new words that might be a little beyond my grammar comprehension. I do ask my tutor about these issues I have but found sometimes better explanations from someone else from the English language to connect the understanding.

Like ないといけない. Someone English speaking explained it as “if I cannot do Verb, I cannot go further” and that stuck and I understand how that grammar means have to/must do.

So I am wondering if someone can help with 全く and 絶対. I think part of the problem is I rely on the translations of the sentences since I am barely N5. And that is part of my gripe with Bunpro on giving “too English” of a translation than more of a literal translation if that makes sense? (I will say the Bunpro team are very responsive on feedback on translations or making hints to prevent that confusion in the future, its just I hate to do it just because it doesn’t make sense to me and I might not make as many if I had a higher comprehension overall before learning these words)

But a lot of the translations for the sentence put 全く as absolutely, but looking at the definition for 全く that is no where in its definition… but I do know to look for a ~ない. However sometimes 全く doesn’t need ない and sometimes 絶対 can be with ~ない… So I end up getting the vocab wrong about 80% of the time.

So I was wondering if anyone could help make these two click and help me understand the difference, or recognize grammar patterns between them. Or maybe I just put a pause on one or both until I have a higher vocab/grammar comprehension too.

Appreciate any help, thanks!

#2

I think the confusion between 全く and 絶対 comes from English translations hiding what each word is actually doing in Japanese.
全く（まったく） is about degree.
It answers “how much?” and the answer is zero.
That’s why it almost always appears with 〜ない at beginner level.
全く分からない → understanding = 0 → “not at all”
When Bunpro translates it as “absolutely,” what it really means is “absolutely zero.” The “zero” part just disappears in English.
絶対（ぜったい） is about certainty / no exceptions, not degree.
It means something like “no matter what” or “without exception,” so it can be used with both positive and negative forms.
絶対行く → definitely will go
絶対行かない → absolutely never go
So even though English often translates both as “absolutely,” the logic is different:
全く → amount = zero (usually with 〜ない)
絶対 → rule, promise, or certainty (with or without 〜ない)
A simple way I’m trying to tell them apart is:
If the sentence is about how much (none at all) → 全く
If it’s about rules or certainty (never / definitely) → 絶対

5 Likes
#3

This whole time I’ve been thinking of 全く as “completely” rather than “absolutely” and I guess that helped me a lot

1 Like
#4

Yeah I think thats how I learned it to begin with.

#5

Appreciate the breakdown. I think that will be helpful with me figuring out which to use and if I get a sentence. And I agree on the translation part, once I understand the purpose of it in Japanese or not a simplified translation I do better.

But like here is a sentence where that thinking is not getting through to me:

武：「ねえ、そう思わない？」文昭：「うん、全く君の言う通りだよ。」

It is saying the translation is absolutely:

Takeshi: ‘Hey, don’t you think so?’ Fumiaki: ‘Yeah, you’re absolutely right.’

and there is no negative besides the 思わない which I guess could be an indicator for me. But this is the only sentence I see that issue for me so this helps explanations helps a lot.

Thanks everyone!

1 Like
#6

One way to figure out which of these two words Bunpro is looking for is to check particles.

To get a prim and proper sentence with 絶対 you would have to say:

絶対に君の言う通り

It can be omitted in conversations, but it seems that in all questions for 絶対 the particles are present and already provided. So since there’s no に here, it has to be 全く.

As for using 全く to agree, I’d like to link this memorable scene: