ずっと

What it means

ずっと (zutto) means a sustained duration: it expresses that something has continued from some point in the past or is continuing into the present, or that it lasts for a long period. In English, it covers 'all the time', 'continuously', and 'for a long time', and it attaches to verbs and adjectives to emphasize duration.

Main meanings

• Continuous action from a past point through the present — emphasizes ongoing duration (zutto).
• For a long duration, indicating something has lasted a long time up to now or into the future depending on context (zutto).
• Describes a persistent state, often with adjectives or stative verbs, implying an ongoing condition (zutto).
• When used with time expressions like ずっと前, it places the duration in a broad timeline, from long ago to the present, depending on surrounding grammar (zutto).

How to use it

Used in casual and formal speech to indicate duration or continuity; it typically precedes the verb or adjective it modifies and can appear with the ている form to express ongoing action, or before an adjective to describe a lasting state; common in everyday conversation and writing, and it can pair with time expressions like ずっと前 to describe long stretches in the past or present.