adverbial N4 common casualpolitewritten
だんだん — gradually
だんだん
Meaning
- gradually / little by little — a change progressing step by step over time
Key sentence
だんだん寒くなってきた。
It's gradually getting colder.
Usage
Describes a continuous change, so it usually accompanies a change verb — なる, or 〜ていく / 〜てくる aspect.
Examples
日本語がだんだん上手になってきた。
My Japanese has gradually gotten better.
空がだんだん暗くなっていく。
The sky is gradually growing darker.
二人はだんだん仲良くなった。
The two of them gradually became close.
Easily confused with
See だんだん in real sentences
Jengo shows だんだん the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled from published Japanese grammar references.