1. 文法 LESSON 11 GRAMMAR NOTES
G1. ADJECTIVES
In Japanese, there are two types of adjectives.
1. い adjectives – end in い
2. な adjectives – end in な
For example:
かわいい (cute, pretty) - is an い adjective, because it ends with い
げんき(な) (happy, well) - is a な adjective, because it ends with な
However, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example:
きれい(な)
(pretty, beautiful, clean) is a な adjective.
It is sometimes seen without the な. Despite this fact, it is a な adjective.
Sometimes the only way to tell the difference between an い and a な adjective is to look the
word up in the dictionary. You will otherwise need to memorize which is which.
http://jisho.org is a good, free, online dictionary.
G2. PRONOMIAL AND PREDICATE USE OF ADJECTIVES
There are two ways to use adjectives in Japanese.
1. One way is called the PRONOMIAL use.
The pronominal use is placing an adjective before a noun.
Look at the examples:
こわい
せんせい
Scary teacher
げんきな
せんせい
Happy teacher
When you place a な adjective before a noun, it must include the な
2. 2. The other way is called the PREDICATE use. The predicate use is when you end a sentence
with an adjective.
Look at the examples:
せんせい
は
こわい
です。
The teacher is scary.
せんせい
は
げんき
です。
The teacher is happy.
Note that you don’t need to include な after な ajdectives when they are used in the
predicate.
G3. CONJUGATING ADJECTIVES IN THE PRESENT TENSE
The following table explains how to conjugate adjectives from the affirmative to the negative in the
present tense.
Type of
Adjective
Adjective Affirmative Negative
い adjective こわい こわい
です こわく
ありません
Scary
He/she/it/etc.
is scary
He/she/it/etc. is not scary
な adjective げんき げんき
です
げんき
じゃ
ありません
げんき
では
ありません
happy, healthy,
energetic
He/she/it/etc.
is happy
He/she/it/etc.
is not healthy
Note that the い at the end of い adjectives changes to く in the present tense negative.
3. G4. CONJUGATING ADJECTIVES IN THE PAST TENSE
The following table explains how to conjugate adjectives from the affirmative to the negative in the
past tense.
Type of
Adjective
Adjective Affirmative Negative
い adjective こわい こわかった
です こわく
ありませんでした
Scary
He/she/it/etc.
was scary
He/she/it/etc. was not scary
な adjective げんき げんき
でした
げんき
じゃ
ありませんでした
げんき
では
ありませんでした
Energetic,
happy,
healthy
He/she/ it
was energetic
He/she/it/etc.
was not energetic
Note that the い at the end of い adjectives ALSO changes to く in the past tense negative.
G5. CONJUGATING THE IRREGULAR ADJECTIVE い い
In Japanese, there is one adjective that is considered “irregular” because it does not follow any
regular conjugation patterns. That adjective is: いい (good). You will need to memorize this.
It conjugates as such:
Present tense Affirmative Present tense Negative
いい
です よく
ありません
He/she/it/etc. is good He/she/it/etc. is not good
Past Tense Affirmative Past Tense Negative
よかった
です よく
ありませんでした
He/she/it/etc. was good He/she/it/etc. was not good
4.
G2. て -FORM OF VERBS CONTAINED IN A PAST TENSE SENTENCE
A sentence listing two or more verbs with the て-form that ends with a verb in past tense happens
entirely in the past.
In other words:
The て- form verb contained within the sentence does not control the tense of the sentence,
but rather the last verb in the sentence controls the tense.
Look at the following examples:
きょう、ろくじ
に
おきて、
あさごはん
を
たべました。
Today, I woke up at 6:00 and ate breakfast.
きのう、きっさてん
に
いって、
コーヒー
を
のみました。
Yesterday, I went to a coffee shop and drank coffee.
As you can see, because the verb at the end of each sentence is in the past tense, everything that
happens within the sentence happens in the past.
