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Grammar detail: い and な adjectives

い and な adjectives
289 words
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An adjective directly modifies the noun that follows it, as in English. In Japanese, adjectives take one of two forms:
  • い adjectives - end in い, and are immediately followed by the noun.
  • な adjectives - are followed by な and then the noun.

Using い adjectives

い adjectives can be conjugated to express is / is not, and was / was not by removing the い and replacing it with くない (not), かった (was), or くなかった (was not). So for example:
  • あかい red
  • あかくない not red
  • あかかった was red
  • あかくなかった was not red

Using な adjectives

な adjectives are not modified, and to express is / is not, was / was not, the verb です and its variations are used. So for example:
Plain formPolite formMeaning
しず
かな
しず
かな
です
a quiet day
しず
かな
ではない
しず
かな
ではありません
not a quiet day
しず
かな
だった
しず
かな
でした
was a quiet day
しず
かな
ではなかった・じゃなかった
しず
かな
ではありませんでした
was not a quiet day

な adjective exceptions

Some な adjectives end in い - so although they look like い adjectives, they behave like な adjectives. These exceptions are easy to spot when they are written in kanji, but some common ones often appear in hiragana and just have to be memorized, such as:
  • きれい attractive
  • きら
    い hated

い adjective exception - いい

いい is a little different from other い adjectives, for historical linguistic reasons - originally it was よい, and that form is still how it is read when written with its kanji (良い). As a result いい is conjugated as follows:
  • いい good
  • よくない not good
  • よかった was good
  • よくなかった was not good
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Kanji used in this grammar

セイ   ジョウ   しず quiet, still   しずまる to become still   しずめる to becalm, to quell   
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ニチ   ジツ   sun; day   ひ    -か    
なかぐろ middle dot   
ケン   ゲン   いや disagreeable   きら to dislike   
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リョウ   よ good   
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