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Part 1 (I-Adjective and Na-Adjective)

Part 2: The Use of Adjectives Modifying Nouns When used as modifiers of nouns, both i-adjectives and na-adjectives take the basic form, and precede nouns just like in English. I-Adjectives chiisai inu small dog takai tokei expensive watch Na-Adjectives yuumeina gaka famous painter sukina eiga favorite movie I-Adjectives as Predicates Adjectives can function like verbs. Therefore, they conjugate just like Verb (but probably much more simply). Informal Present Negative Replace the final ~ i with ~ ku nai Past Replace the final ~ i with ~ katta Past Negative Replace the final ~ i with ~ ku nakatta Formal Add ~desu to all of the informal forms. There is also a variation in the formal negative forms. * Negative: Replace ~i with ~ku arimasen * Past Negative: Add ~ deshita to ~ku arimasen These negative forms are considered slightly more polite than others. Here is how the adjective "takai (expensive)" is conjugated. Informal Formal Present takai takai desu Present Negative takaku nai takaku nai desu takaku arimasen Past takakatta takakatta desu Past Negative takaku nakatta takaku nakatta desu takaku arimasen deshita There is only one exception to the rule of i-adjectives, which is "ii (good)". "Ii" derives from "yoi," and its conjugation is mostly based on "yoi". Informal Formal Present ii ii desu Present Negative yoku nai yoku nai desu yoku arimasen Past yokatta yokatta desu Past negative yoku nakatta yoku nakatta desu yoku arimasen deshita Na-Adjectives as Predicates They are called na-adjectives because "~ na" marks this group of adjectives when directly modifying noun (e.g. yuumeina gaka). Unlike i-adjectives, na-adjectives cannot be used as predicates themselves. When a na-adjective is used as a predicate, the final "na" is deleted and followed by either "~ da" or "~ desu (in formal speech)". As with nouns, "~ da" or "~ desu" changes its form to express the past tense, the negative, and the affirmative. Informal Formal Present yuumei da yuumei desu Present Negative yuumei dewa nai yuumei dewa arimasen Past yuumei datta yuumei deshita Past negative yuumei dewa nakatta yuumei dewa arimasen deshita

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513 views2 pages

Part 1 (I-Adjective and Na-Adjective)

Part 2: The Use of Adjectives Modifying Nouns When used as modifiers of nouns, both i-adjectives and na-adjectives take the basic form, and precede nouns just like in English. I-Adjectives chiisai inu small dog takai tokei expensive watch Na-Adjectives yuumeina gaka famous painter sukina eiga favorite movie I-Adjectives as Predicates Adjectives can function like verbs. Therefore, they conjugate just like Verb (but probably much more simply). Informal Present Negative Replace the final ~ i with ~ ku nai Past Replace the final ~ i with ~ katta Past Negative Replace the final ~ i with ~ ku nakatta Formal Add ~desu to all of the informal forms. There is also a variation in the formal negative forms. * Negative: Replace ~i with ~ku arimasen * Past Negative: Add ~ deshita to ~ku arimasen These negative forms are considered slightly more polite than others. Here is how the adjective "takai (expensive)" is conjugated. Informal Formal Present takai takai desu Present Negative takaku nai takaku nai desu takaku arimasen Past takakatta takakatta desu Past Negative takaku nakatta takaku nakatta desu takaku arimasen deshita There is only one exception to the rule of i-adjectives, which is "ii (good)". "Ii" derives from "yoi," and its conjugation is mostly based on "yoi". Informal Formal Present ii ii desu Present Negative yoku nai yoku nai desu yoku arimasen Past yokatta yokatta desu Past negative yoku nakatta yoku nakatta desu yoku arimasen deshita Na-Adjectives as Predicates They are called na-adjectives because "~ na" marks this group of adjectives when directly modifying noun (e.g. yuumeina gaka). Unlike i-adjectives, na-adjectives cannot be used as predicates themselves. When a na-adjective is used as a predicate, the final "na" is deleted and followed by either "~ da" or "~ desu (in formal speech)". As with nouns, "~ da" or "~ desu" changes its form to express the past tense, the negative, and the affirmative. Informal Formal Present yuumei da yuumei desu Present Negative yuumei dewa nai yuumei dewa arimasen Past yuumei datta yuumei deshita Past negative yuumei dewa nakatta yuumei dewa arimasen deshita

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Part1: I-Adjectives and Na-Adjectives

There are two types of adjectives in Japanese: i-adjectives and na-adjectives. I-


adjectives all end in "~ i," though they never end in "~ ei" (e.g. "kirei" is not an i-
adjective.)
Japanese adjectives differ from their English counterparts. Although
Japanese adjectives have functions to modify nouns like English
adjectives, they also function as verbs when used as predicates. For
example, "takai" in the sentence "takai kuruma " means, "expensive". "Takai
" of "kono kuruma wa takai" means not just "expensive" but "is expensive". When
i-adjectives are used as predicates, they may be followed by "~ desu" to indicate a
formal style. "Takai desu" also means, "is expensive" but it is more formal than
"takai".
Here are lists of common i-adjectives and na-adjectives.
Common I-Adjectives

atarashii furui
new old

atatakai suzushii
warm cool

atsui samui
hot cold

oishii mazui
delicious bad tasting

ookii chiisai
big small

osoi hayai
late, slow early, quick

omoshiroi tsumaranai
interesting, funny boring

kurai akarui
dark bright

chikai tooi
near far

nagai mijikai
long short

muzukashii yasashii
difficult easy

ii warui
good bad

takai hikui
tall, expensive low

yasui wakai
cheap young

isogashii busy urusai noisy


Common Na-Adjectives

ijiwaruna shinsetsuna
mean kind

kiraina sukina
distasteful favorite

shizukana nigiyakana
quiet lively

kikenna anzenna
dangerous safe

benrina fubenna
convenient inconvenient

kireina genkina
pretty healthy, well

jouzuna yuumeina
skillful famous

teineina shoujikina
polite honest

gankona hadena
stubborn showy

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