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Japanese Adjectives

As in English, Japanese adjectives are placed either before a noun (a good book, for example) or at the end of a sentence (The book is good).

All Japanese adjectives end in either i or na when placed before a noun. Adjectives that end in i are called i-type adjectives, and adjectives that end in na are called na-type adjectives. There's really no clear-cut distinction between the two groups in terms of meaning. For example, taka-i and koka-na both mean "expensive," but one is an i-type adjective and the other is a na-type adjective.

Look at some adjectives that modify the noun hon (hohn; book):

kirei-na hon (kee-rehh-nah hohn; a beautiful book)
koka-na hon (kohh-kah-nah hohn; an expensive book)
omoshiro-i hon (oh-moh-shee-roh-ee hohn; an interesting book)
taka-i hon (tah-kah-ee hohn; an expensive book)

You conjugate English adjectives based on whether they're comparative or superlative, like tall, taller, and tallest, but you conjugate Japanese adjectives based on different factors, such as tense (see the chart below for examples). When you place adjectives at the end of a sentence rather than before a noun, the i and na change or disappear, and an extra item like the verb desu (deh-soo; to be) shows up. The form of desu depends on the tense, whether it's affirmative or negative, and whether it's plain/informed or polite/neutral.

Look at the following sentences, all of which include either taka-i (tah-kah-ee; expensive), an i-type adjective, or koka-na (kohh-kah-nah; expensive), a na-type adjective:

Are wa koka ja arimasen. (ah-reh wah kohh-kah jah ah-ree-mah-sehn; That is not expensive.)
Hanbaga wa taka-ku arimasen. (hahn-bahh-gahh wah tah-kah-koo ah-ree-mah-sehn; Hamburgers are not expensive.)
Koka-na nekkuresu o kaimashita.(kohh-kah nah nehk-koo-reh-soo oh kah-ee-mah-shee-tah; I bought an expensive necklace.)
Kore wa taka-katta. (koh-reh wah tah-kah-kaht-tah; This was expensive.)
Taka-i hon o kaimashita. (tah-kah-ee hohn oh kah-ee-mah-shee-tah; I bought an expensive book.)

Table below summarizes the patterns for i-type and na-type adjectives, along with variations in parentheses.

Adjective Patterns

Tense/Polarity	l-type	Na-type
Plain/Informal Style
Present affirmative (is)	taka-i	koka na
Present negative (isn't)	taka-ku nai	koka ja nai
Past affirmative (was)	taka-katta	koka datta
Past negative (wasn't)	taka-ku nakatta	koka ja nakatta
Polite/Neutral Style
Present affirmative (is)	taka-i desu	koka desu
Present negative (isn't)	taka-ku arimasen (taka-ku nai desu)	koka ja arimasen (koka ja nai desu)
Past affirmative (was)	taka-katta desu	koka deshita
Past negative (wasn't)	taka-ku arimasen deshita (taka-ku nakatta desu)	koka ja arimasen deshita (koka ja nakatta desu)

Some adjectives are irregular, which means they don't conjugate the same as other adjectives. The irregular adjective used most frequently is i-i (ee-ee; good). The stem i becomes yo in all the forms except the present affirmative form, regardless of whether you place it at the end of a sentence or right before a noun. Take a look at the following examples:

i-i hon desu (ee-ee hohn deh-soo; is a good book)
i-i-desu (ee-ee deh-soo; is good)
yo-katta desu (yoh-kaht-tah deh-soo; was good)
yo-ku arimasen deshita (yoh-koo ah-ree-mah-sehn deh-shee-tah; wasn't good)
yo-ku arimasen (yoh-koo ah-ree-mah-sen; isn't good)

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Japanese Adjectives