"おんがくはあまり聞きません。"
Translation:I do not listen to a lot of music.
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あまり means "not very much" and is more related to quantity or quality aspect of the subject/action rather than its frequency (time).
よく is what you would use to denote "often" since it pertains to frequency (time)
But since it's negative, "I /do not/ listen to music very much" you would use the negative あまり. And, あまり can be used for frequency as well as quantity or quality.
歌 or うた (uta) = A song
音楽 or おんがく (ongaku) = Music (i.e. genre, classical, type of, etc)
1381
amari + negative verb = to not really do something. So in this case it means - I DON'T REALLY listen to music.
Why is this "I do not listen to a lot of music" vs (i thought it was) "I do not listen to music often" isn't あまり like the opposite of ときどき ?
No, they aren't opposites. ときどき would mean sometimes. あまり is more like rarely.
What is the translation of "really " in the sentence? I thought the correct answer may be "i dont listen to a lot of music"?
- 1381
Amari + negative verb equals I don't really .....(whatever the verb is). Amari is an adverb so you wouldn't translate it as I don't listen to a lot of music because that is referring to the quantity of music you listen to and for that to be correct amari would have to be an adjective (cos it would be describing how much music you listen to). But amari is describing the verb, not the noun and so is referring to the frequency of the speaker's music listening.
I put "I do not listen to music a lot" instead of "I do not listen to a lot of music" and it didn't work :/ !?
The former translation implies a temporal frequency. The latter refers primarily to variety and quantity of music. The difference is nuanced, but important.
Does this mean I do not listen to much, as in a variety, or much, as in a large quantity?
- 1381
It refers to how often you do something (not quantity as some have been saying) and is always used with a negative verb. So rarely, hardly ever, not very much are all valid translations.
So why do we use "ha" here in stead of "wo"? Do you basically always use "ha" when you're asking a question or using a negative sentence?
So "ha" (which in these cases is more similar to a "wa" sound) identifies grammarly the main subject or topic of your phrase or comment. "wo" would highlight you're talking about a thing or object more in the way of a direct object sense. You could still use it, but it would be different.