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I'm working through Nihongo so-matome N5 and I came across a phrase I don't
quite understand.

大切に使っています means "I'm using it" but I don't understand how that is different
from 使っています. How does adding 大切に to the front of 使っていますchange the meaning? If
they are the same, what kind of situation would I use 大切に使っています instead of
使っています?
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2020-04-10T14:49:20.533
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2020-04-11T17:14:31.917
2020-04-11T17:14:31.917
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question
meaning translation
How does adding 大切に to 使っています change its meaning?
Erik, ようこそ。

There are two separate things going on here.

First off, the verb meaning "to use" is written as つかう in hiragana and 使う in
kanji. There's no difference in meaning whatsoever, but this is a very common
word and you're unlikely to see this verb written in hiragana outside of
materials for children and Japanese learners.

When you conjugate the verb into -ている・-ています form, it looks like this:

> 使っている or 使っています
>
> つかっている or つかっています

Note that when written in hiragana, the conjugation is つかっています, _not_ つっかています.

Now, what about that word 大切? When used as a な-adjective, 大切 usually means
"important," but when you use it as an adverb (by affixing に to the end before
a phrase), it means "carefully." So:

> 使っています = I use it
>
> 大切に使っています = I use it carefully
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2020-04-10T15:32:36.533
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2020-04-10T15:32:36.533
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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answer