1.
forever; eternally; for all time
Indicates something continuing without end. Used for genuine permanence, emotional emphasis, or hyperbolic expressions of a very long duration.
永遠に忘れない。
I will never forget.
この瞬間が永遠に続けばいいのに。
I wish this moment would last forever.
戦争で失われた命は永遠に戻らない。
Lives lost in war will never come back.
この会議は永遠に終わらないんじゃないかと思った。
I thought this meeting would never end.
Adverbial form of 永遠 (eternity) + に. Used both literally (genuine permanence) and hyperbolically (feels like it will never end). Very common in emotional, poetic, and everyday contexts.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 永遠に続く: to continue forever
- 永遠に忘れない: to never forget
- 永遠に失われる: to be lost forever
- 永遠に変わらない: to never change
SIMILAR WORDS:
- いつまでも: forever; indefinitely — warmer and more colloquial, often used for wishes and hopes
- 永久に: permanently; perpetually — more formal and factual, emphasizes official or physical permanence
- ずっと: always; the whole time — emphasizes continuous duration from a point in time, less absolute than 永遠に