3

I know that na-adjectives are nouns which can also act like adjectives by affixing themselves to nouns, but can every noun do this simply by adding な or can only certain nouns have the property of being adjectival?

For 利口 can act as a noun:

利口 n. intelligence

but can also be an adjective:

利口 an. intelligent, smart, clever, etc.

3
  • Sorry I deleted my answer because, although I think it's quite correct, I am not 100% sure. For example, I know 本当 is generally used as の adjective, but looking it up it could actually also be な adjective. I think not all nouns can be turned into adjectives this way (what would you use 家 as adjective for?). But the simple fact that you would not use it doesn't mean you can't. So I decided for now to delete the post until I find out more about it.
    – Tommy
    Aug 24, 2018 at 4:27
  • So what you're saying is that there are nouns which exist but wouldn't make sense as adjectives; of those that would make sense, some of them become na-adjectives, and the rest become no-adjectives?
    – PearApple
    Aug 24, 2018 at 4:29
  • That is my understanding, yes. Besides い-adjectives there are な- and の- (that works as suffix to nouns), but there are nouns that... well, are just nouns. However, what I'm unsure of is whether or not you can attach な- to pretty much everything depending on the situation, even if it wouldn't be standard. For example in a use similar to English "-ish". But I suppose in that case you would use something like -っぽい, so I still think the answer is no, overall.
    – Tommy
    Aug 24, 2018 at 4:34

2 Answers 2

4

Not every noun can be a na-adjective.


A few examples of na-adjectives:

親切な人 -- kind person
安全な国 -- safe country
きれいな人 -- beautiful person
さわやかな風 -- refreshing breeze
ロマンチックな映画 -- romantic movie
健康的な食生活 -- healthy diet

Some nouns take の instead of な, and some categorize them as no-adjectives. You'd say:

病気の人 -- sick person
最後の晩餐 -- the last supper
年配の女性 -- elderly woman
初期の肺癌 -- early lung cancer
灰色の空 -- gray sky

... rather than 「病気人」「最後晩餐」「年配女性」「初期肺癌」「灰色空」.


In phrases like 「私の本」(my book) 「家の屋根」(roof of a house) 「日本の文化」(Japan's culture) 「空の色」(color of the sky), however, 「私の」「家の」「日本の」「空の」 wouldn't be considered as no-adjectives. These phrases would be considered as "noun¹ + case particle の + noun²" ("noun² + of + noun¹") rather than "no-adjective + noun" ("~~ish + noun").

And, you don't say 「私な本」「家な屋根」「日本な文化」「空な色」 etc. These nouns express もの・こと rather than 状態・感情, and cannot be na-adjectives.


By the way...

I know that na-adjectives are nouns which can also act like adjectives...

Not all na-adjectives are nouns, eg きれい, さわやか, 静か, 明らか, ロマンチック, ~~的(健康的, 劇的, 科学的 etc.)


As a side note:

You'd use "noun+な" before some words or phrases, even though the noun is not a na-adjective. In such cases the な is the 連体形 (attributive form) of the 断定の助動詞 (assertive auxiliary) or copula だ (source: 明鏡国語辞典). Some examples from the dictionary:

Words that mainly take "noun+な":
だけだ -- 「年が一つ下なだけだ
だけに -- 「相手が子供なだけに対応が難しい」
ので -- 「まだ子供なので理解できない」
のに -- 「小学生なのによくやった」
ものか(終助詞) -- 「彼が犯人なものか
もので -- 「まだ学生なもので

Words that take either "noun+な" or "noun+の" depending on the meaning:
あまり・上・くせに・せい・ため・つもり・はず・ようだ・わけ・わり…

So you can say 「子供なので」「小学生なのに」「形容詞なわけではない」 etc. but it doesn't mean 子供, 小学生, 形容詞 are na-adjectives.

0

Technically yes, because you could use the form of a noun with な in saying things like すべての名詞が ナ形容詞な わけではない*, which is equivalent to …ナ形容詞であるわけでは….

However, that's not substantially an adjective. (For the rest, Tommy answered to your question, I think.)

*; This sentence is too unsettling to rephrase as 形容詞のわけではない while 形容詞のはずがない is fine.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .