[essex Uni, Uk] Japanese Class - Adjectives

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

affirmative

さくらは

negative

さくらは

Sa ku ra wa

ki

re

e

de

su

きれいです。

ki

re

e

j a

a

r i

Cherry blossoms are beautiful.

m a

s e

n

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

shi zu ka

n a

①

げんき（な） healthy

②

しずか（な） quiet

③

ハンサム（な） handsome

ha

n

sa

mu

n a

→ → →

1

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

affirmative

にほんごは

negative

にほんごは

Ni

ho

n

go

o mo shi ro i d e

su

おもしろいです。

wa

o

mo shi ro k u

a

ri

ma

Japanese language is interesting.

se

n

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

②

あたらしい

③

むずかしい

→

cute; pretty

a ta ra shi i

new

→

difficult

→

mu zu ka shi i

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

affirmative

てんきが

negative

てんきが

Te

n

ki

g a

i

i

de

su

いいです。

yo k u

a

ri

ma

The weather is good.

se

n

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

affirmative

てんきが

negative

てんきが

Te

n

ki

g a

yo

i

de

su

よいです。

yo k u

a

ri

ma

The weather is good.

se

n

よくありません。

The weather is NOT good.

2

(thing/person/place)は は Adj です。 Adjectives are used as predicates as follows: Wa ta shi no tsu ku e

wa

わたしのつくえは Ka yo sa n wa

u

n

se

n

o

ya sa shi i d e

かよさんは Ta

o

ki

i

de

su

おおきいです。

My desk is big.

su

やさしいです。 ta

a

wa

タウンセンターは

ni gi ya ka d e

Kayo is kind. su

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

Xは

ni

ho

n

go

de

にほんごで

na

n

to

なんと

i

i

ma

su

ka

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

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