A specialized class of nouns of that can be attached to other nouns (using the special copula form な for present-positive), to describe their properties.
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2answers
1k views
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 ...
16
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3answers
570 views
全然 {ぜんぜん} with positive adjective / na-adjective
In Japanese classes, I was taught that 全然 can only be used with negative-meaning words/phrases/clauses, for example:
全然出来ません
全然だめです
However, I've observed that, especially in spoken Japanese, ...
10
votes
1answer
184 views
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?
10
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1answer
173 views
Unifying concept for noun-adjectives of the pattern Xかな
Consider these:
～か：
静か
愚か
厳か
～やか:
穏やか
鮮やか
賑やか
～らか:
柔らか
滑らか
明らか
There are many more that I've not listed.
The か/やか/らか at the end of these words ...
9
votes
3answers
310 views
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。 ...
8
votes
2answers
251 views
why is it that some 形容動詞 accepts の after it while some only accepts な after it?
why is it that some 形容動詞 accepts の after it while some only accepts な after it?
Examples:
の only: 普通、大勢
な or の: 初心、特別、特殊
Is there a way for us to tell if a 形容動詞 needs a の or な particle after ...
7
votes
1answer
140 views
Is there a pattern to the usage of 〜的 on the end of words?
Sometimes I think it's more obvious when to use 〜的 as a suffix for example 国家 "nation/state" vs 国家的 "national", but in a lot of other cases I think the distinction might be more blurred, and they ...
6
votes
1answer
260 views
If a compound noun is made from a na-adjective suffix, is it followed by a な particle?
There are a few compound nouns that are made by compounding something with na-adjectives like 好き and 嫌い, for examples:
花見好き
子供好き
水嫌い
人嫌い
負け嫌い
Are these compounds followed by a な particle? Or do ...
4
votes
2answers
220 views
Is there even 1 na-type adjective that can't be used as a real noun?
The passage suggests that not all na-type adjectives can be used as real nouns as shown in (b). It doesn't seem to be a case of careless choice of words, since in the 2nd para, the passage uses ...
4
votes
1answer
199 views
"一生懸命な”のニュアンスを説明してもらえませんか。Nuances of 一生懸命な
一生懸命な彼に申し訳ない気がしました。そこで、私は一度彼と会って面と向かって断ろうと思ったのです。
'I felt I had to do something so I decided to meet him face to face and tell him I wasn't interested.'
一生懸命を副詞として使ったら 'eagerly, with utmost ...
3
votes
1answer
128 views
What is なのは used in this sentence?
What is the なのは used in "なかでも にんき なのは ポケモンどうしを たたかわせて".
I know にんき is a na-adjective but i don't understand the use of なのは.
2
votes
1answer
109 views
Joining adjectives with し before a noun
A recent question asked about joining two adjectives together. It used the following example:
(example 1) きれいで静かな町
As I understand it, this is the combination of the 連用形 of きれいだ with the 連体形 of ...
