What is the purpose of に in 特別に上映?


What is the purpose of に in 特別に上映が始まり?

Here is the full sentence:

このうち、北京中心部の映画館では、公開を心待ちにしてきた人たちのために、日付が変わった午前０時から特別 **に**
上映が始まり、未明にもかかわらず、大勢の若者たちが詰めかけました。




In Japanese, both verbs and adjectives conjugate as you know, I hope.

> 「特別{とくべつ} **に** 」 is the 連用形{れんようけい} (continuative form) of the na-adjective
> 「特別（ **な** ）」.

「特別 **に** 」("specially") can modify verbs and adjectives while 「特別 **な** 」 can
only modify nouns.

In the sentence in question, 「特別に」 modifies the verb phrase
「上映{じょうえい}が始{はじ}まり」.

(「始ま **り** 」 is the 連用形 of the verb 「始ま **る** 」, by the way. 連用形 is extremely
important.)

> "the show specially started at midnight"

More naturally, perhaps:

> "a special show started at midnight"

This is a good example of how direct translation might not work well in the
target language.




In Japanese, both verbs and adjectives conjugate as you know, I hope.

> 「特別{とくべつ} **に** 」 is the 連用形{れんようけい} (continuative form) of the na-adjective
> 「特別（ **な** ）」.

「特別 **に** 」("specially") can modify verbs and adjectives while 「特別 **な** 」 can
only modify nouns.

In the sentence in question, 「特別に」 modifies the verb phrase
「上映{じょうえい}が始{はじ}まり」.

(「始ま **り** 」 is the 連用形 of the verb 「始ま **る** 」, by the way. 連用形 is extremely
important.)

> "the show specially started at midnight"

More naturally, perhaps:

> "a special show started at midnight"

This is a good example of how direct translation might not work well in the
target language.

