adverbial N3 common casualpolitewritten
やっと — finally / at last
やっと
Meaning
- finally / at last — after effort or a long wait, with a sense of relief; the outcome is welcome
Centres on the speaker's relief that something long-awaited or hard-won has come through. It implies the result was wanted.
Key sentence
やっと宿題が終わった。
I've finally finished my homework.
Examples
三時間待って、やっとバスが来た。
After waiting three hours, the bus finally came.
練習して、やっと泳げるようになった。
After practicing, I've finally become able to swim.
Easily confused with
ついに やっと stresses relief that a wanted thing arrived; ついに marks the climax of a long build-up, more dramatic and not necessarily welcome. とうとう やっと is positive ('at last, phew'); とうとう often reports an inevitable or unwanted end. 漸く Same 'finally with relief,' but 漸く is formal/written; やっと is the everyday word.
See やっと in real sentences
Jengo shows やっと 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.