The Best Advice The Way To Use こっそり, こそこそ and ひっそり

It seems some people are confused about the way to use こっそり, こそこそ and ひっそり. However, natives quite often use these words, so let’s master the way to use こっそり, こそこそ and ひっそり today and use them together!

こっそり

Secretly / In private / Without letting one’s know

こっそり can be used as the meaning of “positive and negative”, unlike こそこそ. So that’s why you can use こっそり as a positive meaning for a surprise or for doing something In private. When using こっそり for a negative meaning, it would be pretty close to こそこそ, however, こそこそ is the much worse meaning than こっそり.

Example

まさゆきが彼女かのじょの写真しゃしんをこっそり見みせてくれたよ。 (Masayuki secretly showed me his girlfriend’s photograph.) (Masayuki偷偷地给看了女朋友的照片。) (마사유키가 여자친구 사진을 슬쩍 보여줬어.) (Masayuki đã bí mật cho mình xem ảnh người yêu đấy.)

LISTENING COURSE Sample 　
Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

さきちゃんがそのことをこっそり話はなしてくれたよ。 (Saki told me about it in private.) (SAKI偷偷的告诉了我这件事。) (사키가 그걸 슬쩍 얘기해주긴 했어.) (Bé Saki đã bí mật kể cho mình chuyện đó đấy.)

サプライズのため、彼女かのじょに内緒ないしょでこっそり誕生日たんじょうびプレゼント買かったんだ。 (I bought her birthday present without letting her know for a surprise.) (为了给女朋友惊喜悄悄买了生日礼物。) (서프라이즈를 위해 여자친구에게 비밀로 하고 몰래 생일선물을 샀어.) (để tạo bất ngờ,tôi đã bí mật mua quà sinh nhật cho cô ấy.)

こそこそ

Hide / Behind one’s back

When using こそこそ, that meaning is an only negative. Someone wants to hide from someone because what he/she is doing is something bad or might be a crime. こそこそ can often be used with 隠かくれる, such as こそこそ隠かくれる, こそこそ隠かくれて＿＿＿をする and so on.

Example

ゆか
なんで親おやから隠かくれてこそこそ煙草吸たばこすってるの？ (Why do you moke behind your parents’ back?) (为什么躲着父母偷偷吸烟呢一。) (왜 숨어서 부모님 몰래 담배를 피우고 있어?) (Tại sao cậu lại dấu bố mẹ mà lén lút hút thuốc thế.)

たつや
いつからこそこそ隠かくれてゲームしてたの？！ (How long have you been hiding from me when playing video games?) (从什么时候开始偷偷玩游戏了！) (언제부터 몰래 숨어서 게임하고 있었어!) (Cậu đã lén lút chơi game từ bao giờ?)

ゆか
陰かげでこそこそわたしのことあれこれ言いうのはやめて！ (Don’t talk about me behind my back!) (不要在背地里说我的不是。) (뒤에 숨어서 나에 대해 이렇다 저렇다 수군대지 마!) (Đừng có lén lút nói đây đó về chuyện của tôi nữa!)

ひっそり

Quietly

こっそり and ひっそり sound similar to each other, so that’s why ひっそり might be a confusing word. However, ひっそり doesn’t have both a positive and negative meaning. It means just “quietly”. And ひっそり can be often used with 暮くらす and 住すむ. Such as ひっそり暮くらす and ひっそり住すむ.

Example

たつや
路地裏ろじうらにひっそりした喫茶店きっさてんを見みつけたよ！ (I’ve found that the coffee shop quietly standing at the back street.) (在小巷的僻静之处发现了一家茶馆。) (뒷골목에 조용한 카페를 발견했어!) (Tôi tìm thấy một quán cà phê khuất phía sau con hẻm!)

ゆか
野球選手やきゅうせんしゅって現役引退後げんえきいんたいごひっそりと暮くらしてそうだね。 (I guess baseball players live quietly after they retired.) (棒球选手退役后似乎过着平凡安静的生活。) (야구선수는 은퇴하면 조용히 살 것 같아.) (Có vẻ như cầu thủ bóng chày sống lặng lẽ sau khi nghỉ hưu.)

たつや
将来しょうらいは田舎いなかにひっそりと暮くらしたいなー。 (I want to quietly live in the countryside in the future.) (将来想在乡下隐居生活呢。) (나중엔 시골에서 조용히 살고 싶다.) (Trong tương lai, tôi muốn sống yên bình ở vùng quê.)