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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The grammar behind 爪食い込む前足そっくりの生き物 (in the いよわ song 地球の裏)

I think the definition for そっくり that would make remote sense here would be そのまま as any other definition makes less sense, not to mention the fact that the 似ている meanings are for when it's used as a ...
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1 answer
119 views

How to create poetic readings for names?

Can I create poetic readings for invented Japanese names? Based on [小鳥遊]{たかなし}, I would like to create the name [冷]{つめたい} with this special reading, referencing the adjective 冷たい. If I am doing ...
2 votes
1 answer
512 views

Why should I use 多く instead of 多い in the sentence: 留学生はアジア人が多く

I just started learning Japanese for a few months, and I saw a sentence recently: 留学生はアジア人が多く、その他は3割です。 I feel strange that the sentence uses 多く instead of 多い. 多く is an adverb, 多い is an adjective. The ...
3 votes
1 answer
472 views

On adjective days, when to use の

Given the two sentences, 寒い日は温泉に行きます。雪の日は温泉に行きます。 Why does "on cold days" not need the の, but "on snowy days" it does? It appears most other adjectives also require the の, with the ...
0 votes
1 answer
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Understanding 「45年間活躍したクリケット選手の手どうなってんだ…」

From a tweet about the hands of a long-time cricket player: 45年間活躍したクリケット選手の手どうなってんだ… Is this sentence parsed as (45年間活躍したクリケット選手の手)どうなってんだ… Where (45年間活躍したクリケット選手の手) is directly modifying どう? ...
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?
1 vote
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149 views

What is the meaning of たくない ?

食べない is I don't eat, 食べたくない is I don't want to eat. So, たくない is don't want to where たく is the 連用形/Conjunctive of たい (the desire) + ない? Is this correct?
-1 votes
1 answer
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How to say 'I want to be red' in Japanese?

Watasi wa akaku sitai. ? Watasi wa akakaritai. ? How to say 'Be red!'? Akaku siro! ? Akakare! ? How to say 'It's being red at the moment (as in: it will turn purple and then blue soon)'? Kore wa ...
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1 answer
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How does one use daisuki properly?

I know "daisuki" means "big like," but what if I said "I like (daisuki) smart people" in Japanese, instead of telling a single individual that "I like him"? Would I be implying that I love/am sexually ...
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1 answer
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What is this usage of がいい_

誰も傷つけずに生きてくことなんてできないだろ ...だったら お前がいい 自分の中に残るものは全部お前がいい お前がどうしたい? I understand the first sentence is akin to "It's impossible to live without hurting" followed by then "If that's the ...
1 vote
1 answer
179 views

Does きれいにして have a difference nuance compared to きれいで here?

いつも洒落できれいにしてて品がある My understand is akin to "She's always fashionable,pretty and polished However, why is きれいにしてて here used over just きれい? What does different nuance does it provide?
1 vote
1 answer
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Connecting adjectives in Japanese

Till now I have learnt that you connect adjectives with te-form. However, I saw this information given on a website- Here is an exception. You can connect adjectives without using the te-form if two ...
-2 votes
1 answer
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Can Kun'yomi and On'yomi be mixed? Can a distant On'yomi reading be used? [closed]

The title is pretty catchy on its own, but I'm already familiar with creating good Japanese names. I know about kanji and their meanings, but I'm at a loss. I have a few doubts. The first one: Can Kun'...
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1 answer
103 views

When do you add の after a country name? [duplicate]

For example, why is it アメリカの映画 for American movie and フランス料理 for French food?
1 vote
1 answer
103 views

Can adjectives follow the に particle?

https://guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/verbparticles lead me to believe that the に particle should be used with a verb. However I have been reading some sentences that have noun + に + adjective. ...
1 vote
2 answers
380 views

Adding an adjective before a verb?

In this lyric "隣で歌う声怖がりな背中を押して" I'm confused how the がりな背中を押して works. I know how 背中を押して is used thanks to this post. But what does 怖がりな note. Is the person or the action 怖がりな?
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How is the adverb さっそく acting in this sentence?

別に今日だって約束してたわけじゃないし さっそく感が恥ずかしすぎる In the second part, it seems like she's saying it like.. "the feeling of impatience is too embarrassing?" I'm too embarrassed of my impatience?" Edit: ...
3 votes
1 answer
226 views

い-adjectives derived from verbs

Some い-adjectives are derived somehow from verbs. For instance, 忙しい is related to 急ぐ according to Wiktionary. Are there many い-adjectives derived from verbs? If a given verb has an adjectival form, ...
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2 answers
195 views

Why is 'ordinary book' translated as 普通の本 and not 普通な本

I have trouble understanding why "no" is used here instead of "na". For example, on Tofugu they translate きれいな人 as "beautiful person" and きれいのヒント as "beauty hints&...
3 votes
1 answer
556 views

Can aru be used as an adjective?

So I have this sentence すべての会社は、才能ある人材を育成すべきだ. I'm focusing on 才能ある人材. I'm guessing that 才能ある is short for 才能がある. But then aru is followed by 人材 which is another noun. The translation is "people ...
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What is the exact function of たる?

恐怖が屈辱たる世界で あの家系に恐怖する人のなんと多いことか My understand of the sentence is this in word fear is a disgrace and then he points out many people fear that household Hover I don't understand how たる is being used ...
3 votes
5 answers
376 views

Using だ as a Verb

I was reading through the following blog and came across a particularly interesting example on the use of は and が. The author explains that in the context of a young man pointing at a number of ...
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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} ...
2 votes
2 answers
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Does 悍ましい derive from a verb?

So I'm confused about おぞましい, because in 悍ましい, there's おくりがな. Atleast I'm sure of it, and as far as I know, おくりがな is added to a verb. So, I'd think that the ま in 悍ましい、is from the irrealis form of a ...
1 vote
1 answer
241 views

Usage of っぺら and っぺらい

Are both っぺら and っぺらい used in the same way to emphazise an adjective? Is there any difference between them? For example: 薄っぺら/薄っぺらい Can you use っぺら and っぺらい to every adjective?
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1 answer
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What does おとなしく見える mean in this sentence?

借りてきた猫のようにおとなしく見えても、実は猫をかぶっているだけかも。 Without the おとなしく I understand the first half of sentence as meaning, "Looks like a cat that was borrowed". But I'm not sure what additional information ...
1 vote
1 answer
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Meaning of 途方もなくみすばらしい小屋 [closed]

その岩のてっぺんに、途方もなくみすばらしい小屋がちょこんと乗っている A preposterous, splendid shed is perched on top of that rock. (my literal TL) Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. (...
6 votes
5 answers
737 views

How to express that something "must be + adj" as in "we must be strong"?

I am not talking about consequences, such as in "I can't find my wallet, I must have lost it" in which case I think something like ~に違いない could be used. Rather, I would like to know how to express ...
1 vote
1 answer
177 views

How to say “I played well”?

How would you say “I played well”? I wrote よく 遊びました , which is よい (good) in the adverb form and then 遊ぶ (to play) in polite past but the translation comes out as “I played a lot”. What am i doing ...
2 votes
1 answer
158 views

Can a city or a place be described as 便利?

I know 便利 means something convenient or handy but can it also be used to describe a place? Ex. 1 If City A is close to city B, can I say that city A is 便利 (because it is easy and fast to travel to ...
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2 answers
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Role of の and meaning in the sentence "その瞬間の自分の手に〇〇がにぎられている"

The complete sentence, although I don't think it is necessary, is the following: その瞬間の自分の手に、人類すべての運命を決定付けるような、重大なターニングポイントがにぎられているなんていうことは、分かるはずがないんた So, if the intended role of その瞬間 was to be "...
1 vote
1 answer
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When to use adjective+の over adjective+こと/もの?

In this anwser https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/39042/55243 it says that の after adjectives is interchangable with こと/もの. It gives an example: の after an adjective is mainly もの, but it can be こと ...
3 votes
1 answer
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Onomatopoeia + と + した = Adjective?

むっちりとした太股 was translated as “plump thighs”. Can I make an onomatopoeia into an adjective by adding とした?
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Verb normalization of こだわらなさ [duplicate]

I'm confused about how I should parse こだわらなさすぎだ in this sentence. お前は 1つの問題に こだわらなさすぎだ 最後まで諦めんなよ From the context of the show I was watching, I'm pretty sure that this means "You focus too much ...
2 votes
1 answer
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は or が to describe something with an adjective

I know that は is used for general purposes when describing something with an adjective, and が is more suited for specific things, but in the examples below which sentence is correct? ...
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1 answer
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"うとましく思う" meaning?

Google gave me "disagreeable" for just "うとましく" and "to be shy" for "うとましく思う" These obviously don't have the same meaning. What's more, when I put the full ...
8 votes
2 answers
4k views

How can I express that X is as big/small/fast/... as Y?

I would like to know how to express that something is equal in some aspect to another thing (or person, if that makes a difference), as you would express in English by saying: X is as (adjective) as Y ...
30 votes
3 answers
3k views

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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How to use two adjectives on a single noun?

e.g: 聞【き】いたところ、日本【にほん】は綺麗【きれい】な静【しず】かな国【くに】です。 Is the above correct, since 綺麗【きれい】な and 静【しず】かな are used together?
2 votes
1 answer
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Understanding 「35歳の男兎富士直樹容疑者が」

From the first episode of Death Note: 35歳の男兎富士(とふじ)直樹(なおき)容疑者が殺人の疑いで逮捕されました In the show, this sentence is spoken by a male news reporter, so I assume he would be extra careful to speak formally and ...
68 votes
2 answers
16k 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 ...
0 votes
2 answers
110 views

Understanding 書く人物

The sentence (from the first episode of Death Note) 書く人物の顔が 頭に入っていないと効果はない means something like If the written person’s face is not in your head, there will be no effect. For this post I'm ...
1 vote
1 answer
462 views

Difference between 同じ and 同じく(い)

For example: あっ!お金欲しいな! A: 同じです (I said) B: 同じくです (A native Japanese speaker said) The 終止形 of 同じく is 同じい, but it seems they have the same meaning Is there any difference between them, anything makes A ...
2 votes
1 answer
196 views

Color compound words

Is there a logic behind using color noun + noun rather than using color i-adjective + noun? For example, 黒ドレス and 黒タイツ seem to be more used than 黒いドレス and 黒いタイツ. Regardless, the i-adjective way seems ...
0 votes
1 answer
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Different ways to express the idea of something being "concrete" (see provided English example) in adjective form using Japanese?

In English, the noun "concrete" can be used as an adjective to describe other nouns. This usage implies something like "physical", "tangible", "legitimate", or ...
1 vote
1 answer
186 views

What does 悲しいほど青い空 mean?

I'm kind of beginner so maybe I'm wrong, but I understand it as "The LATAM sky sadly blue" but I don't really get the meaning behind the words. Since Japanese language is a lot about context,...
1 vote
1 answer
87 views

When does は imply contrast when describing something

I’ve learnt that は can have contrastive meaning and can offend people when used wrongly. E.g. Aさん: Bさんは目はきれいです This would imply Bさん’s eyes are pretty but the rest of his features are not or something ...
31 votes
1 answer
18k views

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 ...
3 votes
2 answers
759 views

Which noun is described by 大きな and 滑か in 「真珠貝は大きな滑かな縁の鋭い貝であった」

Is it 縁 or 貝? I have consulted two translations, and they both make different choices. The shell was big and smooth and sharp-edged. (Breaking into Japanese Literature; trans. Giles Murray) The ...
2 votes
1 answer
137 views

What's the origin of "さ", the nonsubjective (dunno how to call it nominalizer)

So, I know that the subjective nominalizer み comes from the imperfective/irrealis form of む, apparently the subjective particle that makes things into subjective verbs?? I just heard this on a website....

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