Learn Japanese Adjective Conjugations

Mina-san, yuumei janai burogu ni youkoso!, welcome to blog that is not famous, friends^^, why I colored yuumei janai word with red? because the yuumei janai word (it means not populer/famous) is an adjective. And today We're gonna learn all about Japanese Adjectives. Ok, let's learn Japanese together.

Adjective is called Keyoushi (形容詞) in Japanese and divided into two main group, na-adjective and i-adjective. Let's learn about na-adjective first^^.

Na-adjective (形容動詞)

Called na-adjective because な shows up when followed by a noun.
for example :

有名な人
yuumei na hito
a famous person

Can you guess which the na-adjective there? yes, the na-adjective in that example phrase is "Yuumei=famous" and it needs な to modify a noun. More example :

有名なブログ
yuumei na burogu
a famous blog
静かなブログ
shizuka na burogu
a quiet blog
ハンサムなリズ
hansamu na rizu
handsome rizu

Haha, You may forget the latest example :D. So now we have known what na-adjective is, alright?.

• Also read : Japanese na-adjective vocabulary list

Next, we will learn about conjugation of na-adjective, firstly let's learn how to make na-adjective into negatif form. It's very very simple guys, We just attach じゃない (janai) to the end of na-adjective. This is same as We conjugate a noun in the previous lesson We learnt about Noun conjugation, remember?.

• Also Read : All About Japanese Noun Conjugations

The following is the example for na-adjective in negatif form :

きれい　→　きれいじゃない
kirei → kirei janai
beautiful → not beautiful
大切　→　大切じゃない
taisetsu → taisetsu janai
important → not important
シンちゃんのお母さんはきれいじゃないです
shin-chan no okaa-san wa kirei janai desu
shin-chan's mom is not beautiful^^
それは大切じゃないです
sore wa taisetsu janai desu
that is not important

And the different way to make na-adjective into negatif form is just attach de wa nai (ではない) to the end of na-adjective. Example :

きれい　→　きれいではない
kirei → kirei dewanai
beautiful → not beautiful
大切　→　大切ではない
taisetsu → taisetsu dewanai
important → not important

Ok, and this is formal version of na-adjective in negatif form above, just attach dewa arimasen (ではありません) to the end of na-adjective. Example :

きれいではありません
kirei de wa arimasen
not beatiful (formal)
大切ではありません
taisetsu de wa arimasen
not important (formal)
これは大切ではありません
kore wa taisetsu de wa arimasen
this is not important (formal)

Next, we will learn how to make na-adjective into past tense? Simple and same with how to make a noun into past tense in the previous lesson, we just attach だった (datta) to the end of na-adjective. For example :

きれい　→　きれいだった
kirei 　→　kirei datta
beautiful　→　was beautiful
大切　→　大切だった
taisetsu　→　taisetsu datta
important　→　was important
それは大切だった
sore wa taisetsu datta
that was important

And the last conjugation of na-adjective is how to make na-adjective into negatif past tense, again, very simple and same with a noun, just attach janakatta (じゃなかった) or de wa nakatta (ではなかった) to the end of na-adjective. Example :

きれい　→　きれいじゃなかった
kirei　→　kirei janakatta
beautiful　→　wasn't beautiful
大切　→　大切じゃなかった
taisetsu　→　taisetsu janakatta
important　→　wasn't important

And this is the formal version of na-adjective negatif past tense form. Attach dewa arimasen deshita (ではありませんでした) to the end of na-adjective. Example :

きれい　→　きれいではありませんでした
kirei　→　kirei dewa arimasen deshita
beautiful　→　was not beautiful (formal)
大切　→　大切ではありませんでした
taisetsu　→　taisetsu dewa arimasen deshita
important　→　was not important (formal)

i-adjective (形容詞)

Okay, next let's learn about i-adjective, the adjectives that is all ending with い (i), Hence, they called i-adjective though they never end in "~ ei" (e.g. "kirei" is not an i-adjective but na-adjective.).
I think you would like to read : Japanese i-adjective vocabulary list and recall them. The following is the example of i-adjectives :

白い=shiroi=white
黒い=kuroi=black
暑い=atsui=hot
寒い=samui=cold

How to conjugate i-adjective into negatif form? Just remove い (i) in the end of i-adjective and attach ない (nai). Example :

白い　→　白くない
shiroi　→　shirokunai
white　→　not white
寒い　→　寒くない
samui　→　samukunai
cold　→　not cold

Next, how to conjugate i-adjective into past tense? Easy, just remove い (i) and replace かった (katta). Example :

白い　→　白かった
shiroi　→　shirokatta
white　→　was white
寒い　→　寒かった
samui　→　samukatta
cold　→　was cold

And how to make the negatif past tense form of i-adjective is just remove い (i) in the end of i-adjective and replace くなかった. Example :

白い　→　白くなかった
shiroi　→　shirokunakatta
white　→　was not white
寒い　→　寒くなかった
samui　→　samukunakatta
cold　→　was not cold

Here's the some i-adjectives which have irregular conjugation, I think you must remember these irregular adjectives because these adjectives are used commonly and frequently:

いい　→　よくない　→　よかった　→　よくなかった
ii/yoi　→　yokunai　→　yokatta　→　yokunakatta
good　→　was good　→　not good　→　was not good
格好いい　→　格好よかった　→　格好よくない　→　格好よくなかった
kakkouii　→　kakkouyokatta　→　kakkouyokunai　→　kakkouyokunakatta
cool　→　was cool　→　not cool　→ was not cool

• Also read : Japanese i-adjective vocabulary list

How? very easy eh?^^ and the following is the conclusion from our lesson today :

www.japaneselearningonline.blogspot.com
Japanese Adjetive Conjugation
positive	negative	past tense	negative past tense
kirei	kirei janai	kirei datta	kirei janakatta
shiroi	shirokunai	shirokatta	shirokunakatta

blue: conjugations of na-adjective red: conjugations of i-adjective

I hope you understand learners^^, this is the first grammar we learnt here^^, and in the next lesson we will learn japanese basic grammar again^^ Ok?, Jaa mata ne^^ minna. bye bye.

Posted by Riizhu

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