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If I use an adjective to directly modify a noun how exactly would I conjugate it into the negative form?
For example
これは おおきい やま です。 -> This mountain is large
If I wanted to say "This mountain is not large" could I say
これは おおきくない やま です or これは おおきくありません やま です
or do those two examples above sound unnatural relative to something like
この やま は おおきくない or この やま は おおきくありません
Thanks!
You can say これは大{おお}きくない山{やま}です; it is perfectly natural.
However, you can't say これは大{おお}きくありません山{やま}です.
The reason behind this is that polite 〜ます forms don't have a 連体形{れんたいけい}, or in more English terms, polite things can't modify nouns.
For example, you can say 食{た}べる人{ひと} to mean "a person who is eating". However, you can't say 食{た}べます人{ひと} to mean the same things, since polite forms don't work when modifying nouns. Similarly, you say 大{おお}きい山{やま}, not 大{おお}きいです山{やま}, and 大{おお}きくない山{やま} rather than 大{おお}きくありません山{やま}.
