All About Adjectives

Part1: I-Adjectives and Na-Adjectives

There are two types of adjectives in Japanese: i-adjectives andna-adjectives. I-adjectives all end
in "~ i," though they never end in "~ ei" (e.g. "kirei" is not an i-adjective.)

Japanese adjectives differ from their English counterparts. Although Japanese adjectives have
functions to modify nouns like English adjectives, they also function as verbs when used as
predicates. For example, "takai（高い）" in the sentence "takai kuruma （高い車）" means,
"expensive". "Takai（高い）" of "kono kuruma wa takai （この車は高い）" means not just
"expensive" but "is expensive". When i-adjectives are used as predicates, they may be followed by
"~ desu（～です）" to indicate a formal style. "Takai desu （高いです）" also means, "is
expensive" but it is more formal than "takai （高い）".

Here are lists of common i-adjectives and na-adjectives.

Common I-Adjectives

atarashii new furui old

新しい 古い
atatakai warm suzushii cool
暖かい 涼しい
atsui hot samui cold
暑い 寒い
oishii delicious mazui bad tasting
おいしい まずい
ookii big chiisai small
大きい 小さい
osoi late, slow hayai early, quick
遅い 早い
omoshiroi interesting, funny tsumaranai boring
面白い つまらない
kurai dark akarui bright
暗い 明るい
chikai near tooi far
近い 遠い
nagai long mijikai short
長い 短い
muzukashii difficult yasashii easy
難しい 優しい
ii good warui bad
いい 悪い
takai tall, expensive hikui low
高い 低い
 yasui cheap wakai young
安い 若い
isogashii busy urusai noisy
忙しい うるさい

Common Na-Adjectives

ijiwaruna mean shinsetsuna kind

意地悪な 親切な
kiraina distasteful sukina favorite
嫌いな 好きな
shizukana quiet nigiyakana lively
静かな にぎやかな
kikenna dangerous anzenna safe
危険な 安全な
benrina convenient fubenna inconvenient
便利な 不便な
kireina pretty genkina healthy, well
きれいな 元気な
jouzuna skillful yuumeina famous
上手な 有名な
teineina polite shoujikina honest
丁寧な 正直な
gankona stubborn hadena showy
頑固な 派手な
We will learn how adjectives are used as modifiers and predicates on the next page!

Part 2: The Use of Adjectives

Modifying Nouns

When used as modifiers of nouns, both i-adjectives and na-adjectives take the basic form, and
precede nouns just like in English.
 I-Adjectives chiisai inu small dog
小さい犬
takai tokei expensive watch
高い時計
Na-Adjectives yuumeina gaka famous painter
有名な画家
sukina eiga favorite movie
好きな映画

I-Adjectives as Predicates

As mentioned on the previous page, adjectives can function like verbs. Therefore, they conjugate
just like verbs (but probably much more simply).
Informal Present Negative Replace the final ~ i with ~ ku nai
Past Replace the final ~ i with ~ katta
Past Negative Replace the final ~ i with ~ ku nakatta
Formal Add ~desu to all of the informal forms.
There is also a variation in the formal negative forms.
* Negative: Replace ~i with ~ku arimasen
* Past Negative: Add ~ deshita to ~ku arimasen 
These negative forms are considered slightly more polite than others.

Here is how the adjective "takai (expensive)" is conjugated.

Informal Formal
Present takai takai desu
高い 高いです
Present Negative takaku nai takaku nai desu
高くない 高くないです
takaku arimasen
高くありません
Past takakatta takakatta desu
高かった 高かったです
Past Negative takaku nakatta takaku nakatta desu
高くなかった 高くなかったです
takaku arimasen deshita
高くありませんでした

There is only one exception to the rule of i-adjectives, which is "ii (good)". "Ii" derives from "yoi,"
and its conjugation is mostly based on "yoi".

Informal Formal
Present ii ii desu
 いい いいです
Present Negative yoku nai yoku nai desu
良くない 良くないです
yoku arimasen
良くありません
Past yokatta yokatta desu
良かった 良かったです
Past negative yoku nakatta yoku nakatta desu
良くなかった 良くなかったです
yoku arimasen deshita
良くありませんでした

Na-Adjectives as Predicates

They are called na-adjectives because "~ na" marks this group of adjectives when directly
modifying noun (e.g. yuumeina gaka). Unlike i-adjectives, na-adjectives cannot be used as
predicates themselves. When a na-adjective is used as a predicate, the final "na" is deleted and
followed by either "~ da" or "~ desu (in formal speech)". As with nouns, "~ da" or "~ desu"
changes its form to express the past tense, the negative, and the affirmative.

Informal Formal
Present yuumei da yuumei desu
有名だ 有名です
Present Negative yuumei dewa nai yuumei dewa arimasen
有名ではない 有名ではありません
Past yuumei datta yuumei deshita
有名だった 有名でした
Past negative yuumei dewa nakatta yuumei dewa 
有名ではなかった arimasen deshita
有名ではありませんでした