panese Grammar: Japanese Adjectives – Review

Notes
Today we learned about the two types of Japanese
adjectives. Adjectives are an important part of
learning Japanese because they are used to describe things!

These notes will explain more about today’s grammar and give extra
examples of how to use Japanese adjectives.

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★　Today we learned that there are two types ofJapanese adjectives: 

い-adjectives & な-adjectives

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★　The first type of Japanese adjective that we learned is the い-
adjective.

★　It is called an い-adjective because it always ends in い (i) before the

noun that it is modifying.

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★　The second type of Japanese adjectives that we learned is the な-
adjective.

★ 　 It is called a な -adjective because it takes な  (na)before the noun

that it modifies.

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★　When you use い-adjectives at the end of a sentence, just add です
(desu).

………………………………………………………………………………..

Example:
私の車は大きいです。

Watashi no kuruma wa ookii desu.

My car is big.

………………………………………………………………………………..
Example:
あの車は速いです。

Ano kuruma wa hayai desu.

That car is fast.

………………………………………………………………………………..

★　When you use な-adjectives at the end of a sentence, you take off

the な and add です (desu).

………………………………………………………………………………..
な-Adjective before the noun:
有名な学校です。

Yūmei na gakkō desu.

It is a famous school.

………………………………………………………………………………..

な-Adjective after the noun:

この学校は有名です。

Kono gakkō wa yūmei desu.

This school is famous.

………………………………………………………………………………..

About Adjective Conjugations:

★ 　 Unlike English adjectives, Japanese adjectivesneed to
be conjugated like verbs.

★ 　 い -adjectives and な -adjectives are conjugated differently, so it is

important to know which adjectives are い-adjectives and which are な-
adjectives.

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Past tense of い-adjectives:

★　To make the past tense of い-adjectives just take off the い (i) and
add かった (katta). Add です (desu) to the end in formal speech.
 あつい (atsui) hot
⬇
あつかった (atsukatta) was hot

………………………………………………………………………………..

Example Present Tense:

今日はあついですね。

Kyō wa atsui desu ne.

It is hot today.

Example Past Tense:

昨日はあつかったですね。

Kinō wa atsukatta desu ne.

It was hot yesterday.

………………………………………………………………………………..

Negative form of い-adjectives:

★ 　 To make the negative form of い -adjectives just take off the い
(i) and add くない (kunai). Add です (desu) to the end in formal speech.

さむい (samui) cold
⬇
さむくない (samukunai) not cold

………………………………………………………………………………..

Example Affirmative:
 今日はさむいですね。

Kyō wa samui desu ne.

It is cold today.

Example Negative:
今日はさむくないですね。

Kyō wa samukunai desu ne.

It is not cold today.

………………………………………………………………………………..

Negative Past tense of い-adjectives:

★ 　 To make the negative past tense of い -adjectives from
the negative present tense, just take off い (i) and add か っ た
(katta). Add です (desu) to the end in formal speech.

楽しくない (tanoshikunai) not fun
⬇
楽しくなかった (tanoshikunakatta) was not fun

………………………………………………………………………………..

Negative Present Example:

仕事は楽しくないです。

Shigoto wa tanoshikunai desu.

My job is not fun.

Negative Past Example:

 パーティーは楽しくなかったです。

Pātī wa tanoshikunakatta desu.

The party was not fun.

………………………………………………………………………………..

Past Tense of な-adjectives:

★ 　 To make the past tense of な -adjectives just change で す
(desu) to で し た (deshita) for formal speech or だ (da) to だ っ た
(datta) for casual speech.

大変です (taihen desu) is tough
⬇
大変でした (taihen deshita) was tough

★　Nouns do the same thing as な-adjectives:

先生です (sensei desu) is a teacher
⬇
先生でした (sensei deshita) was a teacher

………………………………………………………………………………..

Present Tense Example:

宿題がたくさんあって、大変です。

Shukudai ga takusan atte, taihen desu.

There is a lot of homework so it is tough.

Past Tense Example:

宿題がたくさんあって、大変でした。
 Skukudai ga takusan atte, taihen deshita.

There was a lot of homwork so it was tough.

………………………………………………………………………………..

Negative form of な-adjectives:

★ 　 To make the negative form of な -adjectives just add じ ゃ な い (ja
nai). Add です (desu) to the end in formal speech.

元気 (genki) energetic
⬇
元気じゃない (genki ja nai) not energetic

★　Nouns do the same thing as な-adjectives:

先生 (sensei) a teacher
⬇
先生じゃない (sensei ja nai) not a teacher

………………………………………………………………………………..

Affirmative Example:
私は元気です。

Watashi wa genki desu.

I am energetic.

Negative Example:
私は元気じゃないです。

Watashi wa genki ja nai desu.

 I am not energetic.

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Negative Past tense of な-adjectives:

★　To make the negative past tense of な-adjectives from
the negative present tense just take off the い (i) and add かった
(katta) similar to what we did for い-adjectives.

簡単じゃない (kantan ja nai) is not easy

⬇
簡単じゃなかった (kantan ja nakatta) was not easy

★　Nouns do the same thing as な-adjectives:

先生じゃない (sensei ja nai) is not a teacher

⬇
先生じゃなかった (sensei ja nakatta) was not a teacher

………………………………………………………………………………..

Negative Present Example:

簡単じゃないです。

Kantan ja nai desu.

It is not easy.

Negative Past Example:

簡単じゃなかったです。

Kantan ja nakatta desu.

It was not easy.

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Click here for more い-adjectives

Extra な-Adjective List:

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Conclusion:
We learned a lot about Japanese adjectives today! I know it is difficult
to remember all of the rules of conjugations, but it will become clearer
the more you hear it and use it (◕ω◕)♪

If you have any questions or concerns, please leave a comment below

or send us an email♥
If you want to learn more about Japanese adjectives, you might be
interested in this book! It includes a list of common adjectives and
adverbs and explains in detail about how to use them in a sentence!

ommon adverbs
Most adverbs are related to adjectives with a similar meaning, and if you
know one, it’s easy to figure out the other. The same is true in English,
where many adjectives can be turned into adverbs by changing them
slightly to end in “ly” (eg. quickly, easily, quietly etc.).

In Japanese, with only a couple of exceptions, we can convert adjectives

into adverbs by doing one of two things, depending on the type of
adjective we’re dealing with. Here’s how:
 

As you can see, i-adjectives can be turned into adverbs by changing

the “i” to “ku”, while for na-adjectives, we just replace the “na” with “ni”.

i-adjectives and na-adjectives

If you are not familiar with i-adjectives and na-adjectives, it’s pretty
simple.
i-adjectives are called that because they always end in “i” (eg. samui =
cold), while na-adjectives are called that because “na” is used whenever
an adjective of this type comes before a noun (eg. shizuka na kafe = a
quiet café).
Na-adjectives almost always end in something other than “i”, although
there are a few exceptions (eg. kirei (na) = pretty/clean). We distinguish
between these types of adjectives because they are modified differently in
different situations, such as in the diagram above.
If you want to learn more about this, I recommend checking out my
book where I cover all of this and a whole lot more.
Also, we mustn’t forget one of the most common adjectives, “ī”. This also
takes the form “yoi”, and when converting to an adverb, this is the form
we must use. The result is as follows:
Good → well, often
ī / yoi → yoku
いい / よい → よく
よ
いい /  良い → よく