Japanese Lesson #5: Adjectives
Basic rule: Japanese adjectives work in a particular way, but there's one thing they have in common with English adjectives; they always come before the noun they modify.
There are two types of adjectives in Japanese:
- な adjectives
- い adjectives
1) な adjectives
We call this type な adjective because when it modifies a noun - i.e. when it comes right before a noun - it needs the な particle to connect with that noun.
For example:
きれい (beautiful) + ひと (person) = きれいな ひと (beautiful person)
*For the record, きれい can also mean "clean", depending on context.
とうきょうは にぎやかな まち です。 = Tokyo is a busy city.
【にぎやか】= busy; lively; bustling
【まち】 = city
However, when the な adjective comes as a predicate (i.e. in a "X is Y" sort of structure), then the な particle is not necessary and the adjective behaves like a noun:
あの ひとは きれい です。 = That person is beautiful.
この まちは にぎやか です。 = This city is busy.
Even in the past and/or negative forms, it will still behave like a noun:
あの ひとは きれい でした。 = That person was beautiful.
あの ひとは きれい ではありません。 = That person isn't beautiful.
あの ひとは きれい ではありません でした。 = That person wasn't beautiful.
2) い adjectives
We call this type い adjective because they all end in い:
いい = good
わるい = bad
あおい = blue (sometimes also "green")
あつい = hot
さむい = cold
おおきい = big
ちいさい = small
かわいい = cute
ATTENTION: Even though きれい technically ends in い as well, it is NOT considered an い adjective!
Unlike な adjectives, い adjectives don't require any particle in order to connect with the nouns they modify.
これは おいしい トマト です。 = This is a delicious tomato.
【おいしい】 = delicious
【トマト】 = tomato
トマトは おいしい です。 = Tomatoes are delicious.
However, unlike な adjectives, い adjectives don't behave like a noun in the past or negative forms. In this case, it's not the verb that changes, but the adjective itself. So, yes, い adjectives have their own past, negative, and past-negative forms, behaving sort of like verbs.
To put an い adjective in negative form, you must replace the final い with くない:
わるい ＞ わるくない
おおきい ＞ おおきくない
かわいい ＞ かわいくない
*Irregular adjective: いい ＞ よくない
Keep in mind that since this type of adjective has its own negative form, you do not have to make です negative as well.
トマトは おいしくない です。 = Tomatoes are not delicious.
きょうは さむくない です。 = It is not cold today.
【きょう】 = today
To put an い adjective in the past, you must replace the final い with かった.
わるい ＞ わるかった
おおきい ＞ おおきかった
かわいい ＞ かわいかった
*いい ＞ よかった
Since this type of adjective has its own past form, the verb です does not change:
トマトは おいしかった です。 = The tomato was delicious.
この ふゆは さむかった です。 = This winter was cold.
【ふゆ】 = winter
Note: よかった literally means "[it] was good", but it's also often used as an interjection to express relief or happiness, similar to the English expressions, "I'm so glad!" "That's great!" "Thank God!" etc.
And finally, to put an い adjective in both past and negative forms, you replace the final い with くなかった (in other words, apply the past form to the negative form):
わるい ＞ わるくなかった
おおきい ＞ おおきくなかった
かわいい ＞ かわいくなかった
*いい ＞ よくなかった
Examples:
トマトは おいしくなかった です。 = The tomato was not delicious.
きのうは さむくなかった です。 = It was not cold yesterday.
【きのう】 = yesterday
So, let's sum it up with the word わるい as an example:
わるい = bad
わるくない = not bad
わるかった = was bad
わるくなかった = was not bad
Now try practising this with other い adjectives. I suggest the adjective あたたかい (warm); it's a real tongue twister! :D
Before we close this lesson, there's a third type of "adjective", and here I use quotation marks because this type is really more of a noun in Japanese, but the English equivalent is often an adjective.
For example, when I said above that あおい means "blue" and "sometimes also green", that's because the Japanese people don't distinguish between blue and green (at least not originally). I suppose they considered blue and green to be merely different shades of the same colour. Usually, あおい means blue, but it can also refer to green things, such as plants and the green traffic light.
Now, when it's not obvious from context and you need to specify that something is green and not blue, you can use the word みどり.
The thing is, みどり isn't exactly an adjective. So, suppose you want to say that a hat (ぼうし) is green. You can't say 「みどりな ぼうし」, because みどり is a noun.
So, to make that noun act like an adjective, instead of connecting it with the noun it's modifying with the な particle, you have to use the の particle.
これは みどりの ぼうし です。 = This is a green hat.
This can also be applied to say where someone or something comes from in the form of an adjective. Remember, the suffix じん is only for people, and the resultant word is a noun! にほんじん literally means "Japanese person", so how would you say "Japanese" as an adjective, as in "a Japanese friend" or "a Japanese movie"?
The answer is simple; take a noun and use the の particle to connect it with the other noun, just like we did with みどり and ぼうし.
にほんの ともだち = a Japanese friend (literally, "a friend of Japan")
にほんの えいが = a Japanese movie (literally, "a movie of Japan")
That's all for today. I hope this was clear enough, but if it wasn't, feel free to ask me to elaborate. I'd try adding some text or dialogue to perhaps make this a little less dull, but I'm not creative at all for that kind of thing and a friend of mine borrowed/stole my "easy" textbook, which is the one I used in my first beginner course. The one I used in university is a lot more complex, but if anyone is interested, I guess I could try to adapt some stuff. :/
There are two types of adjectives in Japanese:
- な adjectives
- い adjectives
1) な adjectives
We call this type な adjective because when it modifies a noun - i.e. when it comes right before a noun - it needs the な particle to connect with that noun.
For example:
きれい (beautiful) + ひと (person) = きれいな ひと (beautiful person)
*For the record, きれい can also mean "clean", depending on context.
とうきょうは にぎやかな まち です。 = Tokyo is a busy city.
【にぎやか】= busy; lively; bustling
【まち】 = city
However, when the な adjective comes as a predicate (i.e. in a "X is Y" sort of structure), then the な particle is not necessary and the adjective behaves like a noun:
あの ひとは きれい です。 = That person is beautiful.
この まちは にぎやか です。 = This city is busy.
Even in the past and/or negative forms, it will still behave like a noun:
あの ひとは きれい でした。 = That person was beautiful.
あの ひとは きれい ではありません。 = That person isn't beautiful.
あの ひとは きれい ではありません でした。 = That person wasn't beautiful.
2) い adjectives
We call this type い adjective because they all end in い:
いい = good
わるい = bad
あおい = blue (sometimes also "green")
あつい = hot
さむい = cold
おおきい = big
ちいさい = small
かわいい = cute
ATTENTION: Even though きれい technically ends in い as well, it is NOT considered an い adjective!
Unlike な adjectives, い adjectives don't require any particle in order to connect with the nouns they modify.
これは おいしい トマト です。 = This is a delicious tomato.
【おいしい】 = delicious
【トマト】 = tomato
トマトは おいしい です。 = Tomatoes are delicious.
However, unlike な adjectives, い adjectives don't behave like a noun in the past or negative forms. In this case, it's not the verb that changes, but the adjective itself. So, yes, い adjectives have their own past, negative, and past-negative forms, behaving sort of like verbs.
To put an い adjective in negative form, you must replace the final い with くない:
わるい ＞ わるくない
おおきい ＞ おおきくない
かわいい ＞ かわいくない
*Irregular adjective: いい ＞ よくない
Keep in mind that since this type of adjective has its own negative form, you do not have to make です negative as well.
トマトは おいしくない です。 = Tomatoes are not delicious.
きょうは さむくない です。 = It is not cold today.
【きょう】 = today
To put an い adjective in the past, you must replace the final い with かった.
わるい ＞ わるかった
おおきい ＞ おおきかった
かわいい ＞ かわいかった
*いい ＞ よかった
Since this type of adjective has its own past form, the verb です does not change:
トマトは おいしかった です。 = The tomato was delicious.
この ふゆは さむかった です。 = This winter was cold.
【ふゆ】 = winter
Note: よかった literally means "[it] was good", but it's also often used as an interjection to express relief or happiness, similar to the English expressions, "I'm so glad!" "That's great!" "Thank God!" etc.
And finally, to put an い adjective in both past and negative forms, you replace the final い with くなかった (in other words, apply the past form to the negative form):
わるい ＞ わるくなかった
おおきい ＞ おおきくなかった
かわいい ＞ かわいくなかった
*いい ＞ よくなかった
Examples:
トマトは おいしくなかった です。 = The tomato was not delicious.
きのうは さむくなかった です。 = It was not cold yesterday.
【きのう】 = yesterday
So, let's sum it up with the word わるい as an example:
わるい = bad
わるくない = not bad
わるかった = was bad
わるくなかった = was not bad
Now try practising this with other い adjectives. I suggest the adjective あたたかい (warm); it's a real tongue twister! :D
Before we close this lesson, there's a third type of "adjective", and here I use quotation marks because this type is really more of a noun in Japanese, but the English equivalent is often an adjective.
For example, when I said above that あおい means "blue" and "sometimes also green", that's because the Japanese people don't distinguish between blue and green (at least not originally). I suppose they considered blue and green to be merely different shades of the same colour. Usually, あおい means blue, but it can also refer to green things, such as plants and the green traffic light.
Now, when it's not obvious from context and you need to specify that something is green and not blue, you can use the word みどり.
The thing is, みどり isn't exactly an adjective. So, suppose you want to say that a hat (ぼうし) is green. You can't say 「みどりな ぼうし」, because みどり is a noun.
So, to make that noun act like an adjective, instead of connecting it with the noun it's modifying with the な particle, you have to use the の particle.
これは みどりの ぼうし です。 = This is a green hat.
This can also be applied to say where someone or something comes from in the form of an adjective. Remember, the suffix じん is only for people, and the resultant word is a noun! にほんじん literally means "Japanese person", so how would you say "Japanese" as an adjective, as in "a Japanese friend" or "a Japanese movie"?
The answer is simple; take a noun and use the の particle to connect it with the other noun, just like we did with みどり and ぼうし.
にほんの ともだち = a Japanese friend (literally, "a friend of Japan")
にほんの えいが = a Japanese movie (literally, "a movie of Japan")
That's all for today. I hope this was clear enough, but if it wasn't, feel free to ask me to elaborate. I'd try adding some text or dialogue to perhaps make this a little less dull, but I'm not creative at all for that kind of thing and a friend of mine borrowed/stole my "easy" textbook, which is the one I used in my first beginner course. The one I used in university is a lot more complex, but if anyone is interested, I guess I could try to adapt some stuff. :/