Different nuance between よく and いつも


My original sentence was:

> [Name]さんは仕事でよく忙しいんですか？

I was told by a native that it sounds strange. She replaced よく with いつも:

> [Name]さんは仕事でいつも忙しいんですか？

I always thought both were used for "often" frequency.

Why does my sentence sound strange? Her explanation was long and in more
complex Japanese than my current level so I didn't quite get it.




Your sentence:

> 「[Name]さんは[仕事]{しごと}で **よく** [忙]{いそが}しいんですか？」

is strange because 「よく」 is most naturally used to modify **_verbs_** , and not
**_adjectives_** like 「忙しい」.

Thus, 「よく忙しい」 sounds just very strange to the Japanese ears as our ears are
not used to hearing such word combinations. In other words, if you literally
translated the English sentence "~~ is often busy." into Japanese, it would
not work.

「いつも忙しい」, however, sounds just fine because unlike 「よく」, 「いつも」 modifies both
adjectives and verbs with equal ease.

So, if you want to use 「よく」 to say how busy a person is, you must use a verb
somewhere as in:

「～～さんは仕事で **よく** [出張]{しゅっちょう}します。」 = "~~ often takes business trips."

「～～さんは仕事が忙しく、 **よく** [深夜]{しんや}に[帰宅]{きたく}します。」 = "~~ often returns home late at
night as he is busy with his work."




Your sentence:

> 「[Name]さんは[仕事]{しごと}で **よく** [忙]{いそが}しいんですか？」

is strange because 「よく」 is most naturally used to modify **_verbs_** , and not
**_adjectives_** like 「忙しい」.

Thus, 「よく忙しい」 sounds just very strange to the Japanese ears as our ears are
not used to hearing such word combinations. In other words, if you literally
translated the English sentence "~~ is often busy." into Japanese, it would
not work.

「いつも忙しい」, however, sounds just fine because unlike 「よく」, 「いつも」 modifies both
adjectives and verbs with equal ease.

So, if you want to use 「よく」 to say how busy a person is, you must use a verb
somewhere as in:

「～～さんは仕事で **よく** [出張]{しゅっちょう}します。」 = "~~ often takes business trips."

「～～さんは仕事が忙しく、 **よく** [深夜]{しんや}に[帰宅]{きたく}します。」 = "~~ often returns home late at
night as he is busy with his work."

