Questions tagged [i-adjectives]

形容詞. A class of words that behaves mostly like verbs (but uses different grammatical endings) and is used to describe properties of nouns.

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2 answers
141 views

かる・しかる-連体形 cant follow nouns?

i was reading something about adjectives on https://www.imabi.net/ and as i was reading, i came across this sentence, the なる-連体形 may follow nominals whereas the かる・しかる-連体形 cannot. is there something ...
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Do Negative Downstepped i-adj's have accents on な?

Consider that 上手い is a downstepped i-adj (i.e., pronounced as うまい{LHL}). Question: What are the pitch accents of the following negative conjugations of 上手い? 上手くない 上手くなかった 上手くなくて 上手くなければ 上手くなる (not a ...
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Understanding 「一番おいしい」 [duplicate]

Why is 一番おいしい grammatical? The phrase 一番おいしい means "number one delicious" or "the most delicious". But 一番 is a noun and おいしい is an い-adjective, and as far as I know (Noun)(い-...
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What is the meaning of the inflection 若かりき?

I encountered what I think is an inflection of the adjective 若い and I couldn't find a suitable explanation for it. Here is the inflection in context: はにかみて君若かりきさかづきを挙げて銀座に相別れにき… Any clues would be ...
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Negative adjective grammar

I wonder what is the difference between these two patterns when using negative adjectives: これは面白いマンガじゃありません。 これは面白くないマンガです。
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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
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Understanding わけでなし

操縦桿を握るパイロットに告げた。普段八五区外に飛ばす機会など全くない、偵察機での長距離飛行を許可されて楽しげな顔なじみのパイロットは気軽く頷く。 「了解です、大佐。……ですが、その辺りは規則では輸送の連中の飛行禁止区域ですよ?」 「何、問題ないだろう。競合区域まで入るわけでなし、それにこの速度なら着くのは夜だ。〈レギオン〉どもは動かんよ」 86─エイティシックス─ 安里アサト Is the ...
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When conjugating adjectives, can we use the normal form of the adjective and use the copula です to indicate its form?

This is specifically for い-adjectives, as な-adjectives work this way. For example, when I want to say something is not delicious I'd usually say おいしくない. Would it be possible to use おいしい じゃありません and ...
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What's the difference between 正しく, 正に, 正確に, 丁度, きちんと and ぴたり?

Which ones are interchangeable? Also, what's the difference between their adjective version: 正しい, 正確な, きちんとする, ぴたりする? I don't know if the last two are correct. Please, add similar adverbs and ...
2 votes
1 answer
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How does 形容詞+かる work in Classical Japanese?

I remember reading previously that かる could not be used attributively(1), but that does raise the question: For what else could a 連体形 have been used in the first place? Was it simply an alternate form ...
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「仕方なくです」 形容詞の連用形 く+ copula です?

I am stumped by 「仕方なくです」 which I have heard/seen occasionally. 用があり仕方なく広島へ。。。仕方なくですね (source) 一年ぶりに来ました。友人に行きたいと言われて仕方なくですが、、、鶏皮は一人5本に減ってました。(source) 仕方なくです!(笑) (source) I know 形容詞の連用形 く, apart ...
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What does this paragraph mean in Wasabi's "Japanese Adjectives with Particle が" article?

I'm trying to understand this post on using Japanese adjectives and am stumped by this paragraph under the I-adjectives section When you use i-adjectives as a subject complement, you MUST NOT do the ...
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What's the Grammar Form at Work Here and How to Use it? 「あまり難しく考えるなよ」

Looking at the Japanese lines of a game, and I came across this line...: あまり難しく考えるなよ。 ...which I believe translates to "Don't think about it too much" or the like. However, I don't ...
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1 answer
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Why is 暗い conjugated as 暗くsometimes?

I know in past tense, you use く like 暗くない but even in present tense, I see example phrases where 暗く is used. For instance: もう暗くなったから、帰りましょう。 I'm a beginner so bear with me please and thanks!
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Is it not needed to use an adjective in the ta-form when paired with 時 as a temporal adverbial clause?

According to Essential Japanese Grammar by Masahiro Tanimori and Eriko Sato (page 352), we can pair adjectives in the ta-form with 時 to form a temporal adverbial clause. Strangely, the book doesn't ...
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Using i-adjectives at the end of (Or really anywhere in...) a sentence?

For instance, if I wanted to ask if a food was tasty, I want to know all linguistic options that I have and, preferably, the nuances between them. These are all the short, potentially appropriate ...
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In the sentence, 「リコとマイは会わなくなりました」, is 会わなくconjugated from 会わない?

While reading, I came across the following: Translation: Riko and Mai stopped seeing each other gradually. My question is very similar to A negative verb conjugated as an adjective?. However, I would ...
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What does き do in this sentence: あんな目に遭ってもなお 気高き兵士のままだ! [duplicate]

I saw this sentence in an episode of Attack on Titan, a soldier is having a panic attack and the speaker says あんな目に遭ってもなお 気高き兵士のままだ! What does き do here? What's the difference from い? あんな目に遭ってもなお ...
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I adjective ku/katta

I am wondering if the ku/katta conjugation for i adjectives has (had) a meaning by itself. For example tanoshii becomes tanoshiku. In the past tense then tanoshikatta. Clearly the tta is the indicator ...
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usage of 懐かしい for self

I have a question about 懐かしい. I see it translated as "nostalgic", but i seem to understand it would be closer to "(something) that makes you feel nostalgic". My question is : can ...
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What does だなんて mean? [duplicate]

I came across with the next sentence: 「そんな呼び方をして、馴れ馴れしくはありませんか?」 「そんな、馴れ馴れしいだなんて」 Why is there a だ with a いadj? And what is the meaning or nuance of that だなんて?
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What's the difference between 【Noun + が + いadj】 and 【Noun + の + Verb】

I was reading and I found the next sentence: そこから動きの鈍った魔物がもぞもぞと入り込んでくる And I had that question, What's the difference between that and saying そこから動きが鈍い魔物がもぞもぞと入り込んでくる
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How to properly translate the last three colours of the rainbow in Japanese?

When I use Google Translate to translate from Russian to Japanese, I get the same Japanese word for two different colours of the rainbow. 💙 ➡️ голубой ➡️ 青い ➡️ blue 🔵 ➡️ синий ➡️ 青い ➡️ blue These ...
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Potential form verbs followed by adjectives to end a sentence have to be in te form?

Do potential verbs followed by adjectives ending a sentence have to be in te form? For example 見られて嬉しい instead of 見られる嬉しい.
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い-adj in く form + する what is the meaning?

I was reading an article at nhk news web site and I found a sentence which I'm not pretty sure what the meaning really is. Here's a fragment: 試験ではまず、日本の県や町などで、将来どんな問題が起こるかが書いてある文章を読みます。そして、...
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1 answer
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む verbs and corresponding ましい adjectives

In studying words like 羨ましい and 勇ましい, I've noticed that there are almost always corresponding (mostly transitive) む verbs: 羨む -> 羨ましい 勇む -> 勇ましい (transitive version seems to be archaic) 好む -> ...
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Why are 近く and 多く nouns?

The く-form of 近い and 多い can be used as nouns and adverbs. For most adjectives, however, the く-form is only used as an adverb. So why do these exceptions exist?
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僕が強くならなきゃ from 月の大きさ song [duplicate]

I believe that it means I have to become strong but I don't really know how the grammar works in the sentence. I know it's using 強い and I guess なる in potencial form Pleas explain to me how this works
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What does “stem” mean in “Adj (na) stem”

In A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, I have (at least tried to) read the grammatical terms and list of abbreviations very carefully, but maybe something is missing. Or maybe I missed something. ...
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i-adjective + noun: is there a difference which part negate?

Is the following two sentence correct? And is the translate correct too?: それ は おそくない くるま です。- That car is not slow. それ は おそい くるま じゃ ありません。- That car is not slow. Or has it somthing difference in the ...
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分かりやすく簡潔に書くのは難しいですよね

From what I looked up and understood, it means "Writing in a clear and concise manner is difficult, isn't it?" 分かりやすく簡潔に書くのは難しいですよね But I thought to connect i-adjectives くて was needed, and ...
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Turning い-Adjectives into Adverbs

I recently listened to a song named アザトカワイイ and I started asking myself about the grammar behind this one simple phrase. According to this site, the title means "Cunningly Cute" which makes ...
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1 answer
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How many true verbs and i-adjectives are there in Japanese?

I have read that verbs in Japanese are a closed class. That is to say: not counting inflections, there is some relatively fixed number of "true verbs" in the language. By "true verbs&...
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What is the proper form of a short question with an i-adjective vs. a na-adjective?

I have read that great answer about i-adjectives being predicates. How does it reflect in questions? Say, I have a dialogue: — Is your city a beautiful one? — Yes, it is. — Is it big? ...
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Why does やすい conjugate to やすく in 分かりやすくいえば?

I was wondering how やすい becomes やすく in 分かりやすくいえば? Here is the full sentence: 分かりやすくいえば あいつらにとって葉山は友達で
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Why can we not use に to mark absolute time with i-adjectives?

EDIT: Still looking for a complete answer. Please read the edit below. This is something I've been wondering for some time now. And this is also not related to relative temporal nouns, I understand ...
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な adjectives vs い adjectives when it comes to conjugation

When conjugating い adjectives it is all fine and dandy, you get rid of the い and replace depending on past, present, affirmative and negative (unless present and affirmative). *1 But then I am ...
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adverbial form of an adjective to modify a noun? [duplicate]

I am learning from Japanese From Zero! online website, and came across this sentence: きょう、近くの こうえんに 行きませんか I would expected 近く to read 近い I have never seen the adverbial form of an adjective used ...
2 votes
1 answer
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Relative Clauses and Adjective Placement

How would you add adjectives inside a relative clause to the thing being modified? Is the placement set? For example, in this sentence, can "new" come directly before computer (1) or should it be ...
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How did 優しさ derived from 優しい? The rule is? [duplicate]

How did 優しさ derived from 優しい? The rule is?
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Other types of adjectives (besides い and な)

I recently started learning Japanese in my home country. Last lesson we learned about the 2 types of adjectives, い and な. Are there other types , like rare ones ?
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Interpreting the past tense of 形容動詞 / 形容詞 / adjectives

In Japanese 形容動詞 can be used as part of a noun phrase in the past tense (contrary to adjectives in English), e.g: 「綺麗だった花」 → "the beautifulpast flower" → "the flower that was beautiful" We can ...
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Double negation of an i-adjective

Does it exist as such, the double negation of an i-adjective, e.g.: おいしくなくない? I was told that I should use おいしくなく は ない instead. Is that right? Is it a rule? Would it depend on context which was a ...
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1 answer
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Do all the い-adjectives become adverbs when you add く to them?

Do all い-adjectives become adverbs when you add く to them? For example: 新しい = 新しく 早い  = 早く But does this work with all the い-adjectives?
5 votes
2 answers
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Connection between 〜い adjectives and 〜く verbs?

The following pairs of inflections got me thinking a little bit. 〜く verb plain/te, for example: 働く・働いて 〜い adjective plain/nai, for example: 甘い・甘くない Both of these suggest that there is perhaps some ...
1 vote
1 answer
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I-adjective in く form modifies a noun/adverb

In the song 宝物 by WANIMA, the chorus goes: 思いにまかせて 感じるまま描いて まだ見えない明日へ 誰にも止められない 今この瞬間が紛れもなく全て。 紛れもない is in く form, which means it's modifiying a verb. However, 全て is nowhere near a verb, but might ...
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1 answer
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Obscure verb forms?

Question 1. It my understanding that you can form a negative polite volitional by attaching まい to the ます of the verb. For example, 食{た}べます becomes 食べますまい. Is it therefore also possible to turn the ...
1 vote
1 answer
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What would 箆深い (のぶかい) mean?

While 深い (ふかい) means "profound; deep; dense", 箆 (へら, の), as a noun, means "spatula; arrow shaft" in japanese and, originally, "fine-toothed comb" in chinese. This word is used adverbially in this ...
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1 answer
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珍 vs 珍しい (na-adjective and i-adjective)

珍 is a noun but also a na-adjective while 珍しい is an i-adjective. In terms of usage, is there some rule of when we should use one and not the other? For words that have a i-adjective and a na-adjective ...
2 votes
1 answer
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〜く+あります inflections?

In this post, it was verified that indeed the origin of the い-adjective ending 〜かった stems as a fusion of the ending 〜く and the inflection あった of ある (that is, 〜かった comes from 〜くあった). This makes me ...