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What is the difference between あんまり and あまり? Please also provide me with some examples.

Ambo100
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Friendly Ghost
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1 Answers1

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They can be used interchangeably, but あんまり sounds a bit more colloquial than あまり.

Examples:

あまり関{かん}心{しん}がありません = "I'm not particularly interested"

あんまり興{きょう}味{み}がないね = "I'm not particularly interested"

* Added *

I can think of only one situation where あんまり is appropriate and あまり is not, namely

それは、あんまりだ = That's too much / too hideous / too ridiculous etc.

We don't say それは、あまりだ

eltonjohn
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  • That last one does seem to be more dialect driven. I have heard それは、あまりやな~ before. However it could have been that the dialect toned down the ん sound enough that it was difficult to notice. – The Wandering Coder Jul 06 '15 at 18:36
  • < それは、あまりやな~> That's plausible, but I can't (dis)confirm, as I do not live in Kansai area. Probably @Choko can share her wisdom here. – eltonjohn Jul 07 '15 at 02:40
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    関西でも、「That's too much.」「それは、ひどい。」という意味で、「それは、あまりやな~」ということはありません。やはり、「あんまり」を使います。「[そら]{HH}、[あんまりやな]{HHHHLH}。」と聞くと、「それはひどい。」または、「それは、いまいちだ。」のどちらかの意味かな、と思います。 – chocolate Jul 08 '15 at 13:12
  • だったら、「ん」が聞きにくかったかな? – The Wandering Coder Jul 09 '15 at 11:14