Japanese Language Class 2/March/2009 (Masumi)

Adjectives
Key sentences:
さくら は きれい です。
Sa ku ra wa ki re e de su.
(Cherry blossoms are beautiful.)

にほんご は おもしろい です。

Ni ho n go wa o mo shi ro i de su.
(Japanese language is interesting.)

Two types of adjectives: な-adjectives & い-adjectives

There are two types of adjectives in Japanese. One type is called “な-adjectives,” and the other type
“い-adjectives.” Like English adjectives, Japanese adjectives are used as 1) predicates (e.g., The girl is
cute.) and 2) noun modifiers (e.g., She is a cute girl.). な and い are their last hiragana when they
modify nouns.

When な-adjectives are used as predicates, the final hiragana な is dropped and です(desu) is added
to the rest of form. In a negative sentence, the final hiragana な is dropped and じゃありません
(jaarimasen) is added to the rest of form.

きれい（な）
Sa ku ra wa ki re e de su
affirmative さくらは きれいです。 Cherry blossoms are beautiful.

Sa ku ra wa ki re e j a a r i m a s e n
negative さくらは きれいじゃありません。 Cherry blossoms are NOT beautiful.

Exercise 1. Add じゃありません to the following な-adjectives to make negative forms.

ge n ki n a
① げんき（な） healthy →

shi zu ka n a
② しずか（な） quiet →

ha n sa mu n a
③ ハンサム（な） handsome →

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When い-adjectives are used as predicates, です(desu) is added to adjectives. In a negative sentence,
take the final hiragana い off and add くありません (kuarimasen) to the rest of form.

おもしろい
Ni ho n go wa o mo shi ro i d e su
affirmative にほんごは おもしろいです。 Japanese language is interesting.

Ni ho n go wa o mo shi ro k u a ri ma se n
negative にほんごは おもしろくありません。 Japanese language is NOT interesting.

Exercise 2. Add くありません to the following い-adjectives to make negative forms.

ka wa i i
① かわいい cute; pretty →

a ta ra shi i
② あたらしい new →

mu zu ka shi i
③ むずかしい difficult →

Irregular adjective
The adjective いい (good; nice; fine) is the only one irregular い adjective. In an affirmative form, で
す is added to い い while in a negative form, い い is changed to よ and く あ りませ ん
(kuarimasen) is added.
いい
Te n ki g a i i de su
affirmative てんきが いいです。 The weather is good.

Te n ki g a yo k u a ri ma se n
negative てんきが よくありません。 The weather is NOT good.

よい is a regular い-adjective and the meaning is the same as いい. いい and よい are used
interchangeably.
よい
Te n ki g a yo i de su
affirmative てんきが よいです。 The weather is good.

Te n ki g a yo k u a ri ma se n
negative てんきが よくありません。 The weather is NOT good.

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(thing/person/place)は は Adj です。
Adjectives are used as predicates as follows:
Wa ta shi no tsu ku e wa o o ki i de su
わたしのつくえは おおきいです。 My desk is big.

Ka yo sa n wa ya sa shi i d e su
かよさんは やさしいです。 Kayo is kind.

Ta u n se n ta a wa ni gi ya ka d e su
タウンセンターは にぎやかです。 Town centre is crowded.

Exercise 3. Compose at least 3 affirmative sentences and 3 negative sentences by using adjectives in
the list on page 4. Examples of sentences are shown above. If you don’t know names of things, you can
ask Japanese assistants.
w a ni ho n go de na n to i i ma su ka
Xは にほんごで なんと いいますか。How do you say X in Japanese?

Affirmative sentences:

Negative sentences:

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 な-adjectives
しずか(な) shizuka quiet ⇔ にぎやか(な) nigiyaka lively; crowded
じょうず(な) joozu good ⇔ へた(な) heta poor; bad
まじめ(な) majime serious; honest ⇔ ふまじめな) fumajime not serious; insincere
べんり(な) benri convenient; useful; handy ⇔ ふべん(な) fuben inconvenient; not handy
しあわせ(な) shiawase happy; fortunate ⇔ ふこう(な) fukoo unhappy; unfortunate
きれい(な) kiree beautiful; clean ゆうめい(な) yuumee famous
ハンサム(な) hansamu handsome ひま(な) hima free; not busy
しんせつ(な) shinsetsu kind たいせつ(な) taisetsu important; valuable
げんき(な) genki healthy; well; fine かんたん(な) kantan easy; simple
きけん(な) kiken dangerous すてき(な) suteki nice; splendid; great

い-adjectives
おおきい ookii big; large ⇔ ちいさい chiisai small
あたらしい atarashii new ⇔ ふるい furui old (thing: not used for people)
いい/よい ii / yoi good; nice; fine ⇔ わるい warui bad
むずかしい muzukashii difficult ⇔ やさしい yasashii easy; simple
たかい takai expensive ⇔ やすい yasui inexpensive; cheap
たのしい tanoshii fun ⇔ つまらない tsumaranai boring
おいしい oishii delicious ⇔ まずい mazui not delicious
たかい takai tall ⇔ ひくい hikui low; short
ながい nagai long ⇔ みじかい mijikai short
ほそい hosoi thin ⇔ ふとい futoi thick
おもい omoi heavy ⇔ かるい karui light
うれしい ureshii happy; glad; pleased ⇔ かなしい kanashii sad; sorrowful
やさしい yasashii kind, gentle かっこいい kakkoii handsome
おもしろい omoshiroi interesting うつくしい utsukushii beautiful
かわいい kawaii cute; pretty いそがしい isogashii busy