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ぶんぽう
文法
■ い-adjectives
In Japanese there are two types of adjectives (い-adjectives and な-adjectives). い adjectives end in ai,
ii, ui or oi.

ちいさい chiisai small おおきい ookii big

あつい atsui hot おもしろい omoshiroi interesting

い-adjectives conjugate in a different way than な-adjectives and nouns.

• Affirmative form, present

ちいさいです。 It is small. おおきいです。 It is big.
あついです。 It is hot. おもしろいです。 It is interesting.

These are used in a polite way because です which indicates polite speech is placed after the adjectives.
Concerning the affirmative form in present, い-adjectives, な-adjectives and nouns conjugate in the same way.

• Negative form, present

The final い is replaced with く and ありません is added to make the present tense in the negative form.

ちいさい → ちいさくありません (The final い is replaced with く)

ちいさくありません。 It is not small. おおきくありません。 It is not big.

あつくありません。　 It is not hot. おもしろくありません。 It is not interesting.

• Affirmative form, past

The final い is replaced with かった which expresses the past.

ちいさい → ちいさかった ちいさかった → ちいさかったです

As かった doesn’t indicate polite speech, です is added to express politeness.

ちいさかったです。 It was small. おおきかったです。 It was big.

あつかったです。 It was hot. おもしろかったです。 It was interesting.

• Negative form, past

The final い is replaced with く and ありませんでした is added to make the past tense in the negative form.

ちいさくありません → ちいさくありませんでした

ちいさくありませんでした。 It was not small. おおきくありませんでした。 It was not big.

あつくありませんでした。 It was not hot. おもしろくありませんでした。 It was not interesting.

 れんしゅう もんだい
練習問題
Complete the following tables.
ANSWERS ×
おおきい : big ちいさい : little
affirmative,present です　　 　　
negative,present くありません　　 　　
affirmative,past かったです　　 　　
negative,past くありませんでした　　 　　

むずかしい : difficult やさしい : easy

affirmative,present
negative,present
affirmative,past
negative,past

Translate the following sentences into Japanese. ANSWERS ×

1. This coat is big.

2. That film is interesting.

3. My shoes are new.

4. Japanese is a little bit difficult.

5. It is hot today.

6. It was cold yesterday.

7. The Kanji test wasn’t easy.

8. My computer was expensive.

9. This coffee isn’t hot.

10. That suit is small.

11. This wine wasn’t cheap.

12. Is this water cold ?

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ぶんぽう
文法
■ Determinative form of い-adjectives
The second form of the い-adjective is the determinative form. This serves to qualify the noun it
accompanies.

たかい ほん expensive book (book which is expensive)

The determinant precedes the determined noun. It is an absolute rule in Japanese.

• それは むずかしいほんです。 That is a difficult book.

• これは おもしろいえいがです。 This is a interesting film.
• たかいネクタイです。 It is a expensive necktie.

■ い-adjectives : いい、　よい
In Japanese there are two adjectives which mean “good”. These are いい and よい.
よい is used for the morphological variations (for the phrases in the negative and the past).
　

Good いい
It is good いいです
It is not good よくありません
It was good よかったです
It was not good よくありませんでした

■ な-adjectives
The な adjectives behave like the nouns.

conjugation of the noun conjugation of the な adjective

ほん : book べんり : useful
ほんです べんりです
ほんではありません べんりではありません
ほんでした べんりでした
ほんではありませんでした べんりではありませんでした

• サラさんは しんせつです。 Sarah is kind.

• あした、ひまではありません。 I’m not free tomorrow.

• あのワインは ゆうめいでした。 That wine was famous.

• このまちは にぎやかではありませんでした。 This town wasn’t lively.

 れんしゅう もんだい
練習問題
Translate the following words into Japanese. ANSWERS ×
1. An expensive book

2. An old company

3. An interesting film

4. Small shoes

5. An inexpensive (postage) stamp

6. A difficult test

7. A big concert

8. New glasses

Translate the following sentences into Japanese. ANSWERS ×

1. It is good.

2. It was good.

3. It isn’t good.

4. It wasn’t good.

5. It is a good hut.

6. My computer is useful.

7. This film isn’t famous.

8. Sarah was kind.

9. I wasn’t free yesterday.

10. My father is fine (good, well).

11. My room was clean.

12. It wasn’t quiet.

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ぶんぽう
文法
■ Determinative form of な-adjectives
The な adjective can’t determine a noun on its own. You need to use its determinative form. To do this,
add な between the adjective and the noun.

な adjective + な + noun

Ex :
• げんきな　ひと An energetic person.
• しずかな まち A quiet town.

-Note -
ゆうめい(famous)、きれい(beautiful) and きらい (detestable) end in い but
these are な-adjectives.

• ゆうめいな かいしゃ A famous company.

• きれいな はな A beautiful flower.

• きらいな たべもの A detestable food.

(A food that I don’t like.)

■ Very : とても　　Not very, not much : あまり

とても and あまり are placed before the adjective. とても can be translated by“very”in English. あまり
is always used with the negative form.

• きょうは とても さむいです。 It is very cold today.

• サラは とても しんせつです。 Sarah is very kind.

• あのワインは あまり ゆうめいではありません。 That wine is not very famous.

• きょうは あまり あつくありません。 It is not very hot today.

-Note-
Don’t confuse たくさん with とても. たくさん (a lot) is an adverb.

X たくさん あついです。　 It is very hot.

X たくさん さむいです。　 It is very cold.

○ とても あついです。 It is very hot.

○ とても さむいです。 It is very cold.
 れんしゅう もんだい
練習問題
Translate the following words into Japanese. ANSWERS ×
1. A useful book

2. A famous company

3. A kind person

4. A clean room

5. A lively park

Translate the following sentences into Japanese. ANSWERS ×

1. It is very good.

2. She is not very kind.

3. It is not very big.

4. It is very beautiful.

5. Sarah is a very kind person.

6. This wine is very old.

7. Tekeshi is a good student.

8. It is a very beautiful flower.

9. This coffee is not very hot.

10. Tokyo is a very lively city.

11. This is not a useful dictionary.

12. It was a very difficult Kanji test.