Questions tagged [adjectives]

形容詞・形容動詞. Japanese doesn't technically have adjectives, but special types of nouns and verbs called na-adjectives and i-adjectives respectively have the same function.

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Relative clauses distinguishing whom/with which/that

I love in Japanese, how adjectival clauses are just added in front of nouns like adjectives. The pizza that I ate = 私が食べたピザ But last night I became confused... In english we have words to link the ...
rewolf's user avatar
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Why does Japanese have two kinds of adjectives? (-i adjectives and -na adjectives)

Japanese has two kinds of adjectives known by several terms but the ones I know are i-adjectives and na-adjectives - why? I recall that Japanese adjectives are much more like verbs than in English ...
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-的 adjectives modifying nouns without な

Am I correct in thinking that these are ok without a na: 1) 印象的な事実 2) 印象的事実 3) 客観的な事実 4) 客観的事実 But these need a na?: 5) 明らかな事実 6) *?明らか事実 7) 簡単な事実 8) *?簡単事実 (From a quick look, ...
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~うございます - keigo い-adjectives

I'm not sure if this is actual keigo, or just a polite form of adjectives. Anyway, there are several that we're all familiar with that are still used today. はやい → おはようございます ありがたい → ありがとうございます ...
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25 votes
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Usage of ~じゃん (~じゃない)

I'd like to know if I can put ~じゃん at the end of every adjective, if there are any exceptions to that usage, and if it's different from ~じゃない. Adj (na) + じゃん 便利じゃん 便利だったじゃん 便利じゃないじゃん ...
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Adjectives functioning both as イ- and ナ-adjective

This question has made me think about the class of adjectives, which can function both as イ- and as ナ-adjective, e.g. 大きい 大きな 小さい 小さな 真っ白い 真っ白な (etc.) 細かい 細かな 暖かい 暖かな 四角い 四角な (etc.) 柔らかい ...
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いAdjective. difference between くて and く

Is it 太陽光線は暖かいけどまぶしく、肌に刺すようです or 太陽光線は暖かいけどまぶしくて、肌に刺すようです What's the difference between くて and く?
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i-adjectives used as na-adjectives: is there a difference? (e.g. 大きい versus 大きな)

There are at the very least several i-adjectives can be used as na-adjectives by dropping the final い and adding な in its place. The most common examples of this, as far as I am aware, are 大きい and 小さい,...
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Is た形 required when using 自動詞 as an adjective?

From the grammar book I learned that when 自動詞 is being used as an adjective, it should change its form to the た形, for example: 優れ{すぐれ}た学生 拗れ{こじれ}た話し But can I say 優れる学生 or 拗れる話し? Why?
Den's user avatar
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Can a noun + suru have an adjective modify the noun as well?

”I did some difficult studying last night." Could I say, "昨夜、難しい勉強しました。”? Basically, my question is: can an adjective, relative clause, or adjectival phrase modify a noun that has する attached, for ...
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Is ~がる suffix limited to specific adjectives only?

I noticed that there are some adjectives that have ~がる suffix to make them into verbs. Some examples from WWWJDIC: ほしがる こわがる いたがる くるしがる さびしがる うれしがる Apparently ~たい form also can take the ~...
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Adjective + とする

From 英語子音の攻略 次回は、これらの日本人にとって苦手とする発音をどのように訓練するのかということについて、ご紹介していきます。 My dictionary defines とする as:  そのように仮定する意を表す。 Does this definition apply to the sentence that I've found? Is the nuance in this ...
coyote's user avatar
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What exactly is a "taru adjective"

On the talk page of the Wikipedia article on "Japanese adjectives", user Dougalg suggested nearly two years ago: I know these are falling out of use, but still exist. If anyone can give an ...
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Using に with adjectives

I want to know if there is a rule or way of thinking that makes it easier to understand which adjectives can be used in the following pattern. 体にいいです。 健康にわるいです。 酒によわいです。 電車に詳しいです。 その場にふさわしかった。 I ...
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When can adjectives be used with the particle "no"?

Some adjectives are used like this: [次]{つぎ}の[世界]{せかい} "tsugi no sekai" (next world) [黄色]{きいろ}の[車]{くるま} "kiiro no kuruma" (yellow car) and others are used liked this: かわいい[車]{くるま} ...
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What is the difference between -さ and -み suffixes to make a noun out of an adjective?

For example, both 悲しさ and 悲しみ are glossed as “sadness” in JMdict. What's the difference? According to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, 〜み “is more emotive and concrete characterization of some ...
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When would you use 新{あら}たな and 新{あたら}しい

To say new, the first way that I learned is to use the i-adjective 新しい. But I noticed that the na-adjective 新たな is used a lot in written texts. Is there any difference in when either is used?
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What is the difference between "〜がる" and "〜がっている"

I want to know the difference between 〜がる and 〜がっている, and in what situations I can use them. My friend said 〜がる is used for a regular activity that someone does every day or every week, and the ...
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What is ~げに suffix actually?

Today, while looking up random words in WWWJDIC, I stumbled upon an example sentence for the word いとしい as below: 少女は人形をいとしげに抱き締めた。 The girl squeezed her doll affectionately. The sentence uses ~げに ...
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13 votes
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い-Adjective Conjugation: かったです vs でした

When we first studied adjective conjugation in my Japanese class, I kept making the same mistake habitually; I would conjugate the past tense of い-adjectives with でした at the end instead of dropping ...
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ない in つまらない and similar adjectives and their conjugation with すぎる

The usual path for conjugation would be: 高い → 高すぎる  (drop い, append すぎる) ない → なさすぎる (drop い, append さ, append すぎる) Is ない in つまらない treated as the negative ない which conjugates as 2.? Or is つまらない a ...
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Usage of noun-modifying である

I'm pretty sure I understand the usage of「である」 here: ピアニストである私{わたし}の姉{あね}は、いつも手{て}に怪我{けが}をしないように気{き}をつけています My sister, a pianist, is always careful not to injure her hands. (My translation) But I'...
Shane's user avatar
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2 answers
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Producing なる adjectives

I found this adjective from 7!!'s song 「ラヴァーズ」(Lovers): 無邪気なる Dictionary entries categorises 無邪気 as a noun and な-adjective. For reference, I shall extract parts from two different stanzas in the ...
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Why does 微妙 become "sucky" in slang usage?

Technically the word 微妙 means as per WWWJDIC: (adj-na,n) (1) delicate; subtle; sensitive; (2) difficult; delicate (situation); complicated; (3) doubtful; questionable; dicey; However, last time I ...
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How to use better as an adjective?

I understand how to say, this is better than that, with より and のほうが、but how can I describe a noun as better? For example, ”What is a better method to do this?” Google translate tells me, ...
Joel's user avatar
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2 answers
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Passive vs Active form of verbs when used as adjectives

The passive/active verb preference question has been discussed before ( Passive vs. active form of verb (past) What is the difference? ), but I had a specific question. When a verb is used in the ...
Norbles's user avatar
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How is the adjective 多い being used as a noun 多く here?

I know 多い means 'many' but I don't really understand how it's being used in the sentence below as a noun 多く. 多くの人々がすべてを失い、多くの人が亡くなった。 My best translation - 'Many peoples have lost everything and ...
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18 votes
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What exactly does an adjective stem + そう mean?

The other day I posted a picture of some food on Facebook, and I noticed that all of my Japanese friends were saying 「おいしそう」. I made a good guess to what it meant, but I wasn't certain what exactly ...
Miguel's user avatar
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How did やわらかい gain its い?

As we know, there is a class of adjectives that end in 〜らか: 滑【なめ】らか, 明【あき】らか, 清【きよ】らか, 安【やす】らか, etc. やわらか (柔らか or 軟らか) is also in this class of adjectives. However, it can also be written as the イ-...
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12 votes
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How to choose between a na- and a no-adjective form of a word that takes both?

I came across the expression あいにくの天気. According to the dictionary あいにく can be a na-adjective, an adverb, a noun and a no-adjective. So, why is の used in the above expression (instead of な)? In ...
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7 votes
1 answer
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What's the difference between an adjective's adverbial form and continuative form?

http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/complete/adverbs http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/complete/verb_sequences <-also covers adjectives Following Tae Kim's guide, those two forms of 青黒い are ...
Hyperglyph's user avatar
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2 answers
319 views

What's the difference in nuance between multiple 形容詞 (い-adjectives) with and without て-form?

When multiple adjectives refer to the same noun, the adjective(s) other than the last one are usually written in the て-form: ① 大きくて重い本 However writing all adjectives in their い-form is not (...
Will's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
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About combining adjectives

I have some confusion I want to clarify. I understand that to combine adjectives we need to use で for な adjectives and て form of い adjectives. So I'm pretty sure that these sentences below are correct:...
Alice28's user avatar
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When you combine adjectives with the て-form does it imply a relationship between them?

For example, if I said... きれいで静かな町 Does that mean there's a relationship between きれい and 静か (like the relationship that happens when you combine two verbs with the て-form)? Or do the two ...
Axe's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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「高くはある」と「高い」の違い

「この花瓶は高くはあるが、それだけの値打ちはある」 I was studying with the "Dictionary of Japanese Grammar" and the above sentence appeared. I am curious about the meaning of the locution in bold and the difference it has ...
Maximilian Muneyoshi's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
18k views

is suki an adjective and a verb?

I thought that "suki" was a verb which meant "to like". It is hard to me to make sense why it seems to be always used with "desu". Now in a webpage I read that suki is an adjective, which means ...
Pablo's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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Relative clauses: 多い人 vs 多くの人

I was practising a grammar pattern, so in my personal example I wrote: 多いオーストラリア人 However, a native speaker corrected me with: 多くのオーストラリア人 I understand that in relative clauses that adjectives ...
Laphini's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
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past tense na adjective + noun

I have two sentences that im using to try to understand how na adjectives are conjugated in Japanese. 私の友達は綺麗な人 - My friend is a beautiful person 私の友達は綺麗だった人 - My friend was a beautiful person In ...
Master Yoda's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
476 views

Using adjectives in simple sentence (Need です and い-form?)

I meet various sentences with adjectives, which version is correct? この猫{ねこ}は黒{くろ}です。 (...kuro desu) この猫は黒いです。 この猫は黒い。 Thanks a lot!
Uoa's user avatar
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1 answer
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What is the purpose of のある in 人気のある?

The full sentence was 人気のある情報を見る, found on a button. Why would のある instead of for instance な
Lourens's user avatar
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23 votes
4 answers
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When would you use 低い【ひくい】 vs 短い【みじかい】

Are 低い and 短い interchangable or do they have specific uses?
elasticrat's user avatar
20 votes
2 answers
7k views

Is there an order of adjectives in Japanese?

In English, if we have multiple adjectives modifying a noun, there is a preferred order for those adjectives, for example: nice long red car *nice red long car *long red nice car I was wondering if ...
Lou's user avatar
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15 votes
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How do you join たる-adjectives?

When joining い-adjectives and な-adjectives, you simply put them in 連用形 + て: この料理は美味しくて安いです。 田中さんは綺麗で親切です。 However, I have a bit of trouble with たる-adjectives. I couldn't find any resources on it. ...
LittleWhole's user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
2k views

Are foreign adjectives always な adjectives?

Sitting in a restaurant yesterday I saw a sign advertising a mango flavoured bagel. It was described as トロピカルな味. That just got me wondering... whenever a 外来語【がいらいご】(word taken from a foreign language ...
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11 votes
5 answers
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Why does 悪く(は)ない give a condescending feeling?

I thought it just meant "It's not bad" but I read some comments from Japanese people who said that it can sound too condescending or like the speaker feels superior to the listener. Why is that? In ...
YTKN's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
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How do you say "You have gotten better at X"?

I was just reminded on another site that "being good at something" is expressed as [上手]{じょうず}/[上手]{うま}い, not いい. How do you tell someone they "have gotten better at something"? Xさん, 料理することがもっと上手いですね。 ...
dotnetN00b's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
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Using 嫌い and 嫌う

In elementary Japanese, you are taught to say you dislike something with が嫌いです. For example: 国の状態が嫌いです。 I've also seen 嫌う used to express dislike, like: 昨日を嫌った。 Are they both interchangeable? ...
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9 votes
1 answer
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Order of multiple nouns and adjectives modifying the same noun

I'm wondering if you guys have any in-depth answers/links regarding: -multiple adjectives modifying one noun (I'll go into the specifics below, I don't mean just the て form conjugations) -order of ...
user19355's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
516 views

Why is 高いです acceptable but 高いではあります not acceptable?

This interesting thread got me thinking about the various forms of the copula and how です is a contraction of で(は)あります. I am wondering why the standard X は Y で(は)あります does not seem to work for certain ...
kandyman's user avatar
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8 votes
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Using 「に」, 「にとって」 and 「に対して」 with adjectives

I read these two questions but I still don't understand the relation between the use of the 「に」 particle with adjectives and other structures such as 「にとって」 and 「に対して」. On the first link, Axioplaseさん ...
E. Matsunaga's user avatar