彼女は新しい仕事にすっかり満足している。

Sentence Discussions Japanese
#1
English Translation

She is quite satisfied with her new job.

Is “quite” really the best wording? In some regions, “quite satisfied” implies “completely satisfied” (which is what the sentence means), but in other regions it implies or “very satisified” or “significantly satisfied”, implying that there’s at least some possibility of being even more satisfied. Wouldn’t a less ambiguous word like “fully” or “completely” or “thoroughly” be better here?

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#2

@SavannahJ
The adverb すっかり means 1) completely/thoroughly; or 2) already changed (drastically/quickly and it’s a bit surprise to the speaker).

The connotation of すっかり in the first meaning is “there is ZERO possibility of doubt”. In a 0-to-10 scale, the level of my confidence in the observation is 10. Therefore, she is not just “significantly” satisfied with her new job, but “completely”.

すっかり in this sentence also implies that she used to have less expectation for her new job when she got the job offer. In spite of her initial anxiety, she got satisfied soon after she started working. I (as a speaker/observer) am surprised at her drastic change in mood.

I don’t think the English translation fully captures the nuance of the second meaning of すっかり.

Here are example sentences with すっかり:

  1. 大変申し訳ありません。すっかり忘れていました。 = I deeply apologize. I totally forgot it.
  2. あら、花子ちゃんもすっかり大きくなって！ = Wow! Hanako, you became taller (and more mature)! – This is like a dialogue between a grandmother and her grandchild who didn’t see each other in the last three years. You can use this phrase even if Hanako is still young and has a plenty of room to further grow up. This sentence is used in the second meaning only (i.e. drastic/quick change).
  3. 太郎がその仕事を終えた頃には、窓の外もすっかり明るくなっていた。 = When Taro finished the work, the sun had already rose high. – This sentence is used in the combination of the first and second meanings. Taro was so concentrated on his work that he didn’t know he stayed up all the night. Time flies.
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