adverbial N3 common casualpolitewritten
とうとう — finally / in the end
とうとう
Meaning
- finally / in the end / ultimately — an outcome reached after a long process, often unwanted or inevitable
Frequently colours the result as regrettable or inevitable — 'the thing that was bound to happen finally did.'
Key sentence
彼はとうとう来なかった。
In the end, he never came.
Examples
薬も効かず、祖父はとうとう亡くなった。
The medicine didn't help, and in the end my grandfather passed away.
我慢できず、とうとう泣き出した。
Unable to hold back, she finally burst into tears.
Easily confused with
See とうとう in real sentences
Jengo shows とうとう the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.