い and な adjectives
In this lesson, we will learn the い and な adjectives, how to conjugate them and all the grammar points about them. You will learn the differences between the い and な adjectives and how to use them. You will also learn about adjectival clauses and how to use two or more adjectives.
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to use the い and な adjectives, and how to conjugate them in all tenses.
In Japanese, there are two types of adjectives; い adjectives, and な adjectives. They are easy to spot.
やさしい = nice, gentle, easy
おいしい = delicious
うつくしい = beautiful
かわいい = cute
しずかな = quiet
べんりな = practical
きれいな = pretty, clean
へんな = strange
い adjectives end in い, whereas な adjectives end in な. Adjectives are noun modifiers, and in Japanese, like English, adjectives will come before a noun. い and な adjectives will conjugate differently. Let's see the properties of な adjectives.
な adjectives
な adjectives will end in な. Placed before a noun, their final な syllable will be retained.
しずかなまち = a quiet town
へんなひと = a strange person
べんりなくるま = a practical car
Placed before a verb, the final な syllable will disappear.
このまちがしずかです。
Kono machi ga shizuka desu.
This town is quiet.
このひとはへんです。
Kono hito wa hen desu.
This person is strange.
このくるまがべんりです。
Kono kuruma ga benri desu.
This car is practical.
With the な adjectives, only the verb will be conjugated.
このまちがあまりしずかじゃない。にぎやかだ。
Kono machi ga amari shizuka janai. Nigiyaka da.
This town is not really quiet. It is lively.
このまちがしずかだった。
Kono machi ga shizuka datta.
This town used to be quiet.
このまちがしずかじゃなかった。
Kono machi ga shizuka janakatta.
This town was not quiet.
Some adjectives will require the particle の instead of the final な.
ほんとうのじんせい = real life
ピカピカのくつ = shiny shoes
パサパサのかみ = dry hair
The connector で
When we have more than one な adjectives in a sentence, we need the connector で. All adjectives, except the last one, will require it. If the adjective is positioned in front a noun, only the last な adjective will retain its final な.
さくらはきれいで、げんきなこです。
Sakura wa kirei de, genkina ko desu.
Sakura is a pretty and energetic child.
If the adjective is before a verb, the final な syllable won't be retained.
さくらはきれいで、げんきです。
Sakura wa kirei de, genki desu.
Sakura is pretty and energetic.
It will be the same with adjectives requiring の instead of な.
ともよちゃんはピカピカで、パサパサのかみです。
Tomoyo-chan wa pikapika de, pasapasa no kami desu.
Tomoyo-chan has shiny and dry hair.
ともよちゃんのかみはピカピカで、パサパサです。
Tomoyo-chan no kami wa pikapika de, pasapasa desu.
Turning な adjectives into adverbs
We can turn adjectives into adverbs by replacing the final な with に.
きれいな ➝ きれいに = cleanly
しずかな ➝ しずかに = quietly
じょうずな ➝ じょうずに = skillfully
かべにしずかにたってください。
Kabe ni shizuka ni tatte kudasai.
Please, stand against the wall quietly.
い adjectives
い adjectives will conjugate differently from な adjectives. い adjectives will end in い no matter the position of the adjective, contrary to な adjectives.
ゆきとさんはやさしいひとです。
Yukito-san wa yasashii hito desu.
Yukito-san is a nice person.
ゆきとさんはやさしいです。
Yukito-san wa yasashii desu.
Yukito-san is nice.
・The くない form
To make a い adjective in the negative, we change the final い for くない. We can add です to make the sentence more polite.
やさしい ➝ やさし ➝ やさしくない
ゆきとさんはやさしくないです。
Yukito-san wa yasashikunai desu.
Yukito-san is not nice.
If we want to say that someone is not a nice person, we will prefer to use this structure;
ゆきと-さんはやさしいひとじゃない。
Yukito-san wa yasashii hito janai.
Yukito-san is not a nice person.
このいぬはぜんぜんかわいくない。
Kono inu wa zenzen kawaikunai.
This dog is not cute at all.
・The かった form
The い adjectives in the past will take the かった form. Like the くない form, we change the final い for かった. We can add です to make the sentence more polite.
そのレストランのラーメンがおいしかったです！
Sono resutoran no raamen ga oishikatta desu!
That restaurant's ramen was delicious!
今日のしけんはむずかしかったね。
Kyou no shiken wa muzukashikatta ne.
Today's exam was difficult, right?
・くなかった
The past negative tense of the い adjectives will take the form of くなかった.
あのえいがはおもしろくなかったです。
Ano eiga wa omoshirokunakatta desu.
That movie was not interesting.
The くて form
Unlike the な adjectives, we will connect two or more い adjectives with their くて form. All い adjectives, but the last one, will require this form.
ゆきとさんはやさしくて、かわいいです。
Yukito-san wa yashikute, kawaii desu.
Yukito-san is nice and cute.
さくらはかわいくて、げんきです。
Sakura wa kawaikute, genki desu.
Sakura is cute and energetic.
ともよちゃんはげんきで、やさしくて、すてきなひとです。
Tomoyo-chan wa genki de, yasashikute, sutekina hito desu.
Tomoyo-chan is an energetic, nice and wonderful person.
If we add なくて to the く form, it will put the adjective in the negative.
あのひとはやさしくなくて、わるいです。
Ano hito wa yasashikunakute, warui desu.
That person is not nice, and is bad.
You can do the same for the じゃない form of the な adjectives.
このくるまがべんりじゃなくて、ふるいです。
Kono kuruma ga benri janakute, furui desu.
This car is not practical, and is old.
The case of the adjective いい
いい is an irregular adjective meaning 'good'. It will have another form when conjugated in the negative, past and past negative.
今日はいいてんきです。
Kyou wa ii tenki desu.
Today is a good day.
・よくない
いい in the negative form will turn into よくない. So, the い will turn into よ.
We can add です to make the sentence more polite.
このケーキがあまりよくない。
Kono keeki ga amari yokunai.
This cake is not really good.
そのえいががよくないです。
Sono eiga ga yokunai desu.
That movie is not good.
・よかった
In the past, いい becomes よかった.
きのうはてんきがよかったです。
Kinou wa tenki ga yokatta desu.
The weather was nice yesterday.
・よくなかった
In the past negative, いい becomes よくなかった.
それはよくなかった。
Sore wa yokunakatta.
This was not good.
The case of よかった
よかった is a word that we use in one particular expression that can be the equivalent of 'thank God' in English.
ともよちゃん！だいじょうぶですか？よかった！
Tomoyo-chan! Daijoubu desu ka? Yokatta!
Tomoyo-chan! Are you alright? Thank God!
It can have other meanings as well.
このかばんをかえたのはよかったね。
Kono kaban o kaeta no wa yokatta ne.
It is great you were able to buy this bag, right?
おかあさはげんきになったのはよかった。
Okaasan wa genki ni natta no wa yokatta.
I am relieved Mother is well.
Turning い adjectives into adverbs
To turn い adjectives into adverbs, replace the final い with く.
はやい ➝ はやく = quickly
いい ➝ よく = well
はやくいそいで！
Hayaku isoide!
Quickly, hurry up!
よくきいてください。
Yoku kiite kudasai.
Please listen well.
Adjectival clauses
Clauses are like sentences, as they have a subject and a predicate (subject and verb), but clauses are not used as a main sentence, but rather, they are part of one. Clauses can have many types, and one such type is the adjectival clauses. Like adjectives, adjectival clauses modify a noun. These adjectival clauses in English most of time are formed with relative pronouns, such as 'which', 'when', 'where', 'who', 'whom', and 'that'. In English, they will follow a noun, like;
The person who is drinking is Masako.
'Who is drinking' is the adjectival clause. In Japanese, these will be found before a noun as it will act as an adjective. If we were to translate the previous sentence in Japanese, it would look like this;
今のんでいるひとはまさこです。
Ima nondeiru hito wa Masako desu.
The person who is drinking (right now) is Masako.
今のんでいるひと means 'the person who is drinking right now'. のんでいる is the verb のむ in the て-form. All adjectival clauses will work like this in Japanese.
たかいかばんをかったひとはどこですか？
Takai kaban o katta hito wa doko desu ka?
Where is the person who bought an expensive bag?
こうえんにいるいぬはさみしそう。
Kouen ni iru inu wa samishisou.
The dog in the park looks lonely.
こうえんではしっていたおんなはわたしのいもうとです。
Kouen de hashitteita onna wa watashi no imouto desu.
The woman who was running in the park is my little sister.
The ます-form doesn't work in this form.
やまもとさんがきのうみたがくせいはせがたかかったです。
Yamamoto-san ga kinou mita gakusei wa se ga takakatta desu.
The student that Yamamoto-san saw yesterday was tall.
せがたかい means 'being tall'.
Noun adjectives
Very much like せがたかい, you will see some adjectives in Japanese having a noun and then an adjective. せ in せがたかい means 'back' and たかい means 'tall'. Together, it means that somebody is tall, their size or height is tall.
Here are some adjectives that use this structure;
あたまがいい = intelligent, smart
あたま means 'head' and いい means 'good'. Together, it means that someone is smart or intelligent.
あたまがわるい = idiot, stupid
あたまがかたい = obstinate
あたまがやわらかい = flexible
あたまがたかい = haughty, snobbish
はながたかい = haughty, snobbish
These are also called idioms.
One thing that will be different in Japanese is when we compliment people on their appearance. In English, we will use 'to have' as in 'you have nice hair'. In Japanese, we will use 'to be'.
みちしげさんはいいはです。
Michishige-san wa ii ha desu.
Michishige-san has nice teeth.
Verb adjectives
Some adjectives will act as verbs in Japanese. This is the case for 'to like', 'to dislike', 'want', and 'to be scared of'.
すきな = like, favorite
きらいな = dislike, least favorite
こわい = scary
ほしい = want, desirable (things)
りんごがすきです。
Ringo ga suki desu.
I like apples.
なすがきらいです。
Nasu ga kirai desu.
I dislike aubergines.
さめがこわいです。
Same ga kowai desu.
I am scared of sharks.
こねこがほしいです。
Koneko ga hoshii desu.
I want a kitten.
We will see these in more details in another lesson.