ずつ

Particle (Basic ㊦ 572)

A particle that indicates equal distribution of quantity.

Equivalent: By; at a time.

私は漢字を毎日五つずつ覚える・覚えます。: I memorize five kanji every day.
毎月三冊ずつ本を買っています。: I'm buying three books per month.
ゴルフが少しずつ上手になって来た。: I have become a better golfer bit by bit.
私は子供達に本を二冊ずつやった。: I gave two books to each of the children.
どのクラスにも女子学生が六人ずついた。: There were six girl students in each class.

Notes

1. The particle ずつ is used only after a quantifier (= an expression of quantity).

2. A sentence without ずつ can express virtually the same fact. Compare Key Sentence and Example (a) with (1a) and (1b), respectively.

a. 私は漢字を毎日五つ覚える。
I memorize five kanji every day.

b. 毎月三冊本を買っています。
I'm buying three books every month.

A sentence with ずつ focuses on equal distribution of quantity, but a sentence without ずつ doesn't.