Japanese Adjective Usage
It's probably not quite accurate to call them "adjectives", at least not in the usual English sense of the word, since -i adjectives act a lot like verbs and -na adjectives are nearly the same thing as nouns. But since they're usually used to modify nouns, "adjective" is probably the best English can do to describe them, so that's what they're generally called, and that's what I'm going with. Adjectives can be used several different ways.
Inline Modification
Maybe there's a better term for this... but anyway, it's when the adjective is placed with the noun it modifies, like "cold weather" or "healthy person". -i adjectives are placed before their nouns in dictionary form; -na adjectives are the same but include the ～な (-na). Any of the conjugated short forms may also be used.
- 「新しい時計を買いました。」 (Atarashii tokei wo kaimashita.) = "I bought a new watch."
- 「ひまな人は寝る。」 (Hima na hito wa neru.) = "The idle person sleeps."
- 「熱くないコーヒーを飲みません。」 (Atsukunai KOOHII wo nomimasen.) = "I don't drink coffee that isn't hot."
This is actually just a special case of sentences modifying nouns, where
the sentence is just an adjective. Yes, a single word can be a
complete sentence in Japanese!
Conjugations
This is where -i adjectives look a lot like verbs and -na adjectives look exactly like nouns. The forms mean the same thing as for verbs. To use these, simply put the noun with the appropriate adjective form in a sentence like so: [noun]は[adjective] ([noun] wa [adjective]). Alternately, put one of the short forms right before the noun, as explained above. It means the same as [noun] is/isn't/was/wasn't/etc. (depending on the form used) [adjective]. So, for example...
- 「本は面白い。」 (Hon wa omoshiroi.) = "The book is interesting." or "Books are interesting."
- 「切符は高くなかったです。」 (Kippu wa takaku nakatta desu.) = "The ticket was not expensive."
So here's the chart. D stands for dictionary form, and that's without the ～な for -na adjectives.
There is one sort-of exception: The -i adjective いい (ii) is actually a variant of よい (yoi), and conjugates as よい in all forms except nonpast affirmative. So the past affirmative casual is よくない (yokunai), the -te form is よくて (yokute), and so on.
Other than that, all adjectives conjugate regularly. Examples are included on the chart.
| Form | Adjective | Long | Short |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpast Affirmative |
-i adjectives | D + です (desu) | D |
| 新しい (atarashii) | 新しいです (atarashii desu) | 新しい (atarashii) | |
| -na adjectives | D + です (desu) | D, optionally + だ (da). D + な when modifying a noun | |
| 賑やか (nigiyaka) | 賑やかです (nigiyaka desu) | 賑やか(だ) (nigiyaka (da)) 賑やかな[noun] | |
| Nonpast Negative |
-i adjectives | D - い + くありません (ku arimasen) or D - い + くないです (ku nai desu) | D - い + くない (ku nai) |
| 詰らない (tsumaranai) | 詰らなくありません (tsumaranaku arimasen) or 詰らなくないです (tsumaranaku nai desu) | 詰らなくない (tsumaraku nai) | |
| -na adjectives | D + じゃありません (ja arimasen) or D + じゃないです (ja nai desu) | D + じゃない (ja nai) | |
| きれい (kirei) | きれいじゃありません (kirei ja arimasen) or きれいじゃないです (kirei ja nai desu) | きれいじゃない (kirei ja nai) | |
| Past Affirmative |
-i adjectives | D - い + かったです (katta desu) | D - い + かった (katta) |
| 小さい (chiisai) | 小さかったです (chiisakatta desu) | 小さかった (chiisakatta) | |
| -na adjectives | D + でした (deshita) | D + だった (datta) | |
| 元気 (genki) | 元気でした (genki deshita) | 元気だった (genki datta) | |
| Past Negative |
-i adjectives | D - い + くありませんでした (ku arimasen deshita) or D - い + くなかったです (ku nakatta desu) | D - い + くなかった (ku nakatta) |
| 熱い (atsui) | 熱くありませんでした (atsuku arimasen deshita) or 熱くなかったです (atsuku nakatta desu) | 熱くなかった (atsuku nakatta) | |
| -na adjectives | D + じゃありませんでした (ja arimasen deshita) or D + じゃなかったです (ja nakatta desu) (uncommon) | D + じゃなかった (ja nakatta) | |
| 暇 (hima) | 暇じゃありませんでした (hima ja arimasen deshita) or 暇じゃなかったです (hima ja nakatta desu) (uncommon) | 暇じゃなかった (hima ja nakatta) | |
| Affirmative -te Form |
-i adjectives | D - い + くて (kute) | |
| かわいい (kawaii) | かわいくて (kawaikute) | ||
| -na adjectives | D + で (de) | ||
| 親切 (shinsetsu) | 親切で (shinsetsu de) | ||
| Negative -te Form |
-i adjectives | D - い + くなくて (ku nakute) | |
| 大きい (ookii) | 大きくなくて (ookiku nakute) | ||
| -na adjectives | D + じゃなくて (ja nakute) | ||
| 大変 (taihen) | 大変じゃなくて (taihen ja nakute) | ||
| Affirmative Conditional |
-i adjectives | D - い + かったら (kattara) | |
| よろしい (yoroshii) | よろしかったら (yoroshikattara) | ||
| -na adjectives | D + だったら (dattara) | ||
| 馬鹿 (baka) | 馬鹿だったら (baka dattara) | ||
| Negative Conditional |
-i adjectives | D - い + くなかったら (ku nakattara) | |
| いい (ii) | よくなかったら (yoku nakattara) | ||
| -na adjectives | D + じゃなかったら (ja nakattara) | ||
| 愚か (oroka) | 愚かじゃなかったら (oroka ja nakattara) | ||
| Affirmative Provisional |
-i adjectives | D - い + ければ (kereba); D + なら (nara) is similar | |
| 面白い (omoshiroi) | 面白ければ (omoshirokereba); 面白いなら (omoshiroi nara) is similar | ||
| -na adjectives | D + であれば (de areba); D + なら (nara) is similar | ||
| 素直 (sunao) | 素直であれば (sunao de areba); 素直なら (sunao nara) is similar | Negative Provisional |
-i adjectives | D - い + くなければ (ku nakereba); D - い + くないなら (ku nai nara) is similar |
| 古い (furui) | 古くなければ (furuku nakereba); 古くないなら (furuku nai nara) is similar | ||
| -na adjectives | D + じゃなければ (ja nakereba); D + じゃないなら (ja nai nara) is similar | ||
| 変 (hen) | 変じゃなければ (hen ja nakereba); 変じゃないなら (hen ja nai nara) is similar | ||
| Alternative | Any | the appropriate past tense + り (ri) | |
| 長い (nagai) | 長かったり (nagakattari) if positive | ||
| 長くなかったり (nagaku nakattari) if negative | |||
| 鮮やか (azayaka) | 鮮やかだったり (azayaka dattari) if positive | ||
| 鮮やかじゃなかったり (azayaka ja nakattari) if negative | |||
High Formality
Adjectives also have highly formal variants. For -na adjectives, this is simple; just use the highly polite copula, でございます (de gozaimasu) instead of the usual です (desu). For -i adjectives, it's more complicated.
| Dictionary | Very Polite |
|---|---|
| next to last kana has an a vowel | change final ai to ou and add ございます (gozaimasu) |
| next to last kana has an i vowel | change final ii to yuu and add ございます (gozaimasu) |
| next to last kana has an u vowel | change final ui to uu and add ございます (gozaimasu) |
| next to last kana has an o vowel | change final oi to ou and add ございます (gozaimasu) |
| Examples: | |
| 早い (hayai) | 早うございます (hayou gozaimasu) |
| かわいい (kawaii) | かわゆうございます (kawayuu gozaimasu) |
| 嬉しい (ureshii) | 嬉しゅうございます (ureshuu gozaimasu) |
| 大きい (ookii) | 大きゅうございます (ookyuu gozaimasu) |
| 眠い (nemui) | 眠うございます (nemuu gozaimasu) |
| 遅い (osoi) | 遅うございます (osou gozaimasu) |
These may also be preceded with the honorific お (o). Certain idiomatic phrases such as お早うございます (ohayou gozaimasu), which functions as "good morning" but is literally just "it is early" phrased very politely, come from this form.
Seems... Looks like... (-sou ending)
To say how something seems, drop the final い (i) for -i adjectives, leave out the な (na) for -na adjectives, and add そう (sou) to what's left. The result is a -na adjective. It indicates that whatever you are referring to seems to be or looks like the adjective you started with, when you don't have enough information to be sure. As such, そう is rarely used with adjectives such as "pretty" that depend on perception, since it's difficult to imagine a situation in which you could tell that something seems to be pretty without being able to say that it actually is pretty.
When using そう with negatives, create the negative form as usual, then change the final ～ない (-nai) to ～なさそう (-nasasou).
Finally, for whatever reason, いい (ii) becomes よさそう (yosasou), not いそう (isou) or よそう (yosou).
- 「このスポーツは簡単そう。」 (Kono SUPOUTSU wa kantansou.) = "This sport seems simple."
- 「それは暖かそうなセーター。」 (Sore wa atatakasou na SEETAA.) = "That's a warm-looking sweater."
- 「面白くなさそうです。」 (Omoshiroku nasasou desu.) = "It does not appear to be interesting."
Also refer to the related clause endings みたい (mitai) and よう (you).
The adverbial form—add に (ni) as explained in the "as other parts of speech" section below—is fairly common with certain adjectives and may be used in ways that are not intuitive to English speakers, or at least don't translate cleanly.
- 「美味しそうにラーメンを食べる」 (Oishisou ni RAAMEN wo taberu) = "Eat ramen in a way that suggests that it's delicious"
Observations about other people (-gatte iru)
Many adjectives, such as かわいい (kawaii = cute) can be used as-is when describing other people, but others refer to things such as personal feelings that an outside observer can never be quite sure of. Adjectives of this type include 嬉しい (ureshii = happy), 痛い (itai = painful), and the ～たい (-tai) verb ending, which indicates a desire. To talk about other people, the tendency is to be more indirect, perhaps by saying that they said they want to, or that you think they want to. Another way, for -i adjectives of this type, is to drop the final い and add ～がる (-garu) or ～がっている (-gatte iru), meaning that your observations of the person's behavior indicate this conclusion.
The adjective 欲しい (hoshii), meaing wanted or wished for, often acts like this and is normally used as [object]が欲しい ([object] ga hoshii). However, when making an observation of want with ～がっている, use を (wo) instead of が (ga).
- 「メアリーは悲しがっている。」 (MEARII wa kanashigatte iru.) = "Mary seems sad" (based on how she's acting).
- 「トムさんは友達を欲しがっています。」 (TOMU san wa tomodachi wo hoshigatte imasu.) = "Tom would appear to want a friend."
Too Much (-sugiru)
To express the idea of "too much", add the auxiliary verb すぎる (sugiru). For -i adjectives, first drop the final い (i); for -na adjectives, just leave out the な (na). すぎる is a -ru verb and conjugates as such.
Referring to someone or something with adjective + すぎる has a negative connotation. You wouldn't normally, for example, say that someone is 楽しすぎる (tanoshisugiru = too much fun), unless you're suggesting that it's a bad thing to be so much fun.
- 「この時計は古すぎます。」 (Kono tokei wa furusugimasu.) = "This clock is too old."
- 「静かすぎるんだ…」 (Shizukasugiru n da...) = "It's too quiet..."
Somewhat (-me)
To moderate an -i adjective, similar to using the English ending "-ish", replace the final ～い (-i) with ～め (-me) and use the result as a -na adjective. As usual, the adverbial form also applies. This usage might apply only to certain adjectives, and there doesn't seem to be an equivalent for -na adjectives at all.
- 「大きめなシャツ。」 (ookime na SHATSU) = "largish shirt"
- 「早めに着いた。」 (Hayame ni tsuita.) = "We arrived a bit on the early side."
As Other Parts of Speech
Nouning adjectives
-i adjectives can be used as abstract nouns by replacing the ending い (i) with さ (sa), though this doesn't apply to all adjectives. The resulting noun refers to the attribute that the adjective describes.
- 「優しさ」 (yasashisa) = "kindness"
- 「大きさ」 (ookisa) = "size" ("largeness")
You can do the same with some -na adjectives by adding さ (sa), but this seems to be somwhat less common.
- 「何という愚かさだ。」 (Nan to iu orokasa da.) = "Such foolishness."
-na adjectives are sometimes used directly as nouns, especially in colloquial speech, though perhaps they technically shouldn't be.
- 「ほっとけ、このバカ。」 (Hottoke, kono BAKA.) = "Leave me alone, you idiot."
Adverbing adjectives
All adjectives have a corresponding adverbial form. -i adjectives change the final い (i) to く (ku), while -na adjectives add に (ni).
- 「速く泳ぐ」 (hayaku oyogu) = "swims quickly"
- 「静かに話す」 (shizuka ni hanasu) = "speaks quietly"
- 「うまく行く」 (umaku iku) = "goes well"
Verbing Adjectives
Adjectives can be used like verbs with a few changes. Make the adverbial form (above), and add なる (naru) to mean "become...", or する (suru) to mean "make...".
- 「店が忙しくなった。」 (Mise ga isogashiku natta.) = "The store got busy." or "The store got busier."
- 「先生が試験を簡単にしてくれる。」 (Sensei ga shiken wo kantan ni shite kureru.) = "The teacher will make the test easy." or "The teacher will make the test easier."
Notice that there's no way to tell a comparative change (becoming more than it was before) from an absolute one (wasn't before but is now). Looking the first example above, if the change is absolute, then the store had not been busy before, but now is. If the change is comparative, then the store may or may not have been busy at first, but is now more busy than it had been. In other words, 忙しくなった (isogashiku natta) could mean either "get busy" or "get busier". The intended meaning can be clarified by context, and there are several simple ways to make the type of change explicit.
- 「静かだった店が忙しくなった。」 (Shizuka datta mise ga isogashiku natta.) = "The store that had been quiet became busy."
- 「店がもっと忙しくなった。」 (Mise ga motto isogashiku natta.) = "The store became more busy."
- 「店がさらに忙しくなった。」 (Mise ga sara ni isogashiku natta.) = "The store became further busy."
- 「店が前より忙しくなった。」 (Mise ga mae yori isogashiku natta.) = "The store became busier than [it was] before."
より (yori) by itself also works, though that leaves some ambiguity as to what it's more than. Then again, English "busier" (to keep the same example) has the same ambiguity, and how often does anyone care?
Additionally, -na adjectives such as 好き (suki) that seem like verbs are sometimes used as verbs in colloquial speech, even though this isn't considered correct usage.
- 「週末を好き。」 (shuumatsu wo suki.) = "I like weekends."
For what it's worth, the proper usage is 「週末が好き」 (shuumatsu ga suki), with "weekend" marked as the subject.