adverbial N3 common casualpolitewritten
つい — unintentionally
つい
Meaning
① unintentionally: without meaning to / in spite of oneself / can't help but ~ — an action slips out against the speaker's better judgment
② just now: just (now) / only a moment ago — a very short time or distance away
Key sentence
① unintentionally
ダイエット中なのに、つい食べすぎてしまった。
Even though I'm on a diet, I ended up overeating without meaning to.
② just now
彼はつい先ほど出かけました。
He went out just a moment ago.
Examples
① unintentionally
面白くて、つい最後まで読んでしまった。
It was so interesting that I couldn't help reading it to the end.
静かにと言われたのに、つい大きな声を出した。
I was told to be quiet, but I raised my voice in spite of myself.
② just now
つい昨日のことのように思い出せる。
I can recall it as if it were only yesterday.
Easily confused with
思わず 思わず is a reflexive, momentary reaction to a stimulus (驚いて思わず叫んだ, 'I cried out reflexively'); つい (sense 1) is a lapse against ongoing self-control — doing the thing you keep telling yourself not to. うっかり うっかり is doing something by careless inattention (a slip you regret); つい is being unable to resist a temptation or habit, even while aware of it.
Notes
- Sense 1 usually pairs with 〜てしまう to underline the regret. Sense 2 (つい先ほど・つい最近) is a separate, neutral 'just recently' use with no nuance of failure.
See つい in real sentences
Jengo shows つい 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 Advanced Japanese Grammar.