疾っくに
Already, A long time ago, Long ago
Structure
Explanation
The adverb 疾っくに, almost always written as とっくに, generally means 'a long time ago' or 'long since'. It is considered a more emphatic form of 疾うに, a literary expression that is seldom used in contemporary Japanese.
As an adverb that modifies the entire sentence, とっくに is usually placed at the start of a clause or directly before the verb to stress that an action was completed much earlier.
- とっくに終わったよ。I finished it ages ago.
- その映画はもうとっくに始まってるよ。急がないと！That movie started a long time ago. We've got to hurry!
- 最終バスはとっくに出てしまったから、歩いて帰るしかない。The last bus left long ago, so we have no choice but to walk home.
- パーティーはもうとっくに終わったよ。なんで今ごろ来たの？The party ended ages ago. Why are you only showing up now?
In contrast to similar words like すでに and もう, とっくに is used to imply that something happened much further back in time, or can be used simply to add emphasis.
- そのニュースなら、とっくに聞いてるよ。Oh, that news? I heard about it a long time ago.
Fun-fact
You will rarely see とっくに used with a specific time reference. This is because its classical Japanese root, 疾し, already carries the nuance of 'long before' or 'at a significantly earlier point'.
Examples
「昼ご飯は？」「疾っくに済ませたよ。」
'What about lunch?' 'I've already finished it.'
あのコンサートのチケットは疾っくに売り切れたらしい。
It seems the tickets for that concert sold out a long time ago.
「宿題やったの？」「疾っくに提出したよ。」
'Did you do your homework?' 'I already turned it in.'
その話は、ネットでは疾っくに時代遅れだよ。
That topic is already old news on the internet.
駅前の本屋は疾っくに潰れたよ。知らなかった？
The bookstore in front of the station went out of business a long time ago. Didn't you know?
気づけば疾っくに夏は終わり、秋になっていた。
Before I knew it, summer had already ended and it was autumn.
A：「田中さんと鈴木さん、まだ付き合ってるの？」B：「え？あの二人は疾っくに別れたよ。」
A: 'Are Tanaka and Suzuki still dating?' B: 'What? Those two broke up a long time ago.'
申込みの締切は疾っくに過ぎているので、もう応募できません。
The application deadline has long since passed, so you can no longer apply.
彼が言っていたことの本当の意味に、私は疾っくに気づくべきだった。
I should have realized the true meaning of what he was saying a long time ago.
「パーティーに行こうよ！」「え、パーティーは疾っくに終わったよ。」
'Let's go to the party!' 'Huh? The party already ended!'
こんな古い技術は疾っくにすたれてしまった。
Such old technology became obsolete a long time ago.
僕がゲームを始めた時には、皆は疾っくにクリアしていた。
By the time I started the game, everyone else had already long cleared it.