い-adjectives and な-adjectives
N は Adj-い です／N は Adj-な です
い-adjective: たかい 車／車は たかいです. な-adjective: しずかな へや／へやは しずかです. Watch out for きれい and きらい (な).
In short
Two families of adjectives. い-adjectives (たかい, やすい) go straight in front of a noun: たかい山. な-adjectives (しずか, 上手) take な in front of a noun: しずかな へや. Before です, they take nothing extra.
- 山は たかいです。yama wa takai desuThe mountain is high.
- しろい 花shiroi hanaa white flower
- しずかな へやshizuka na heyaa quiet room
Two families of adjectives
Japanese has two kinds of adjectives. い-adjectives end in い (たかい, expensive; おいしい, tasty). な-adjectives are used with な in front of a noun (しずかな, quiet; きれいな, beautiful, clean).
You need to know which family each adjective belongs to, because they don't conjugate the same way. Dictionaries always say.
After the noun: A は adjective です
To say that something is a certain way, you put the adjective before です. An い-adjective keeps its い; a な-adjective drops its な.
- この ラーメンは おいしいです。kono rāmen wa oishii desuThis ramen is good.
- この こうえんは しずかです。kono kōen wa shizuka desuThis park is quiet.
In front of the noun
In front of a noun, an い-adjective attaches directly, and a な-adjective keeps its な. Never put の between them.
| い-adjective | な-adjective | |
|---|---|---|
| in front of a noun | たかい 車 | しずかな へや |
| before です | 車は たかいです | へやは しずかです |
- きれいな 花ですね。kirei na hana desu neWhat a pretty flower.
The look-alikes: きれい and きらい
きれい (beautiful, clean) and きらい (disliked) end in い but are な-adjectives. There are only a few: remember these two above all, plus ゆうめい (famous).
Common mistakes
- Putting な before です: “しずかなです” is wrong, it's しずかです.
- Linking with の: “たかいの 車” is wrong, it's たかい 車.
- Treating きれい as an い-adjective: you say きれいな 花 and きれいじゃありません.
5 exercises on this point
Particles to choose, sentences to put back in order, translations: marked straight away, then reviewed at the right time. This JLPT N5 point is on the Hibiya Line (Nature) of the Tokyo subway.