Skip to content
道Nihongo Path

Word 2789 of 4449

Save Sign in to track

俄か

にわか

sudden; abrupt; unexpected; improvised; makeshift

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 空が俄かに曇ってきた。

    そらがにわかにくもってきた。

    The sky suddenly clouded over.

  2. 俄か仕込みの知識では、その問題は解けなかった。

    にわかじこみのちしきでは、そのもんだいはとけなかった。

    Hastily crammed knowledge was not enough to solve the problem.

  3. 彼の話は俄かには信じがたい。

    かれのはなしはにわかにはしんじがたい。

    His story is hard to believe straight off.

Common patterns

俄かに
suddenly; all at once
俄か雨
a sudden shower
俄かには信じがたい
hard to believe at once

Memory tip

Literary and normally written にわか. The adverb にわかに is the live form; as a prefix it means 'instant, not the real thing' — にわかファン is a bandwagon fan who appeared only after the team started winning.

Kanji in this word

  • 俄Not in the N5–N1 kanji lists

Quick check

1 / 2Multiple choiceDifficulty 4 of 5

What does 俄か mean?