How to Use Adjectives in Japanese | Structures + Examples

Q: What are the types of Japanese adjectives?

There are two types of Japanese adjectives: い形容詞 ( ii-keiyoushi ) and な形容詞 ( na-keiyoushi ) i.e., i-adjectives and na-adjectives Basically, these are the adjectives that either end with ii or na.

Q: How to use adjectives in Japanese?

The Japanese ii adjectives can be used with 2 structures: Adjective + Noun + です. Noun + は + adjective + です. The na adjectives can also be used with 2 structures: Adjective + Noun + です. Noun + は + adjective (remove な) + です. Check out our lesson for sentence examples.

Q: Do you have more lessons like this one?

Absolutely, we do. You can check more of this kind of Japanese lessons in our Grammar Bank .

Home A1 Using ii-adjectives and na-adjectives

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HOW TO USE JAPANESE ADJECTIVES

In Japanese there are two types of Japanese:

い形容詞 (ii-keiyoushi) and な形容詞 (na-keiyoushi)

These are the adjectives that either end with ii or na.

HOW TO USE い形容詞 – ii adjectives

ii adjectives – Structure #1

It’s very easy to learn to use ii adjectives as it is very similar to the English way. You just have to attach the adjective before a noun.

PATTERN

Adjective + Noun + です

For example:

EXAMPLE	HIRAGANA	ROMANISATION	ENGLISH
古い本です。	ふるいほんです。	Furui hon desu.	It is an old book.

Here, the adjective describes the noun perfectly and emphasises the feature of the book i.e., the book being old.

ii adjectives – Structure #2

Another sentence structure is to attach the adjective at the end of the sentence, before desu. You will understand the difference by looking at the example.

PATTERN

Noun + は + adjective + です

For example:

EXAMPLE	HIRAGANA	ROMANISATION	ENGLISH
本は古いです。	ほんはふるいです。	Hon wa furui desu.	The book is old.

Here, the topic marker particle は is used to stress the word ‘book’ giving more emphasis on book rather than it being old.

To help you remember, here are a few adjectives with their antonyms:

HIRAGANA	romaji	ENGLISH	HIRAGANA	romaji	ENGLISH
おおきい	ookiii	Big	ちいさい	chiisai	Small
たかい	takai	Expensive	やすい	yasui	Cheap
ながい	nagai	Long	みじかい	mijikai	Short
あつい	atsui	Hot	つめたい	tsumetai	Cold
あたらしい	atarashii	New	ふるい	furui	Old

HOW TO USE な形容詞 – na adjectives

na adjectives – Structure #1

When you are attaching the word before a noun, you retain na at the end of then na adjective. Just like ii adjectives.

PATTERN

Adjective + noun + です

For example:

EXAMPLE	HIRAGANA	ROMANISATION	ENGLISH
簡単な質問です。	かんたんなしつもんです。	Kantan na shitsumon desu.	It’s an easy question.

na adjectives – Structure #2

When you want to use the na adjective at the end of a sentence, you will have to keep in mind that you need to lose the na ending of the na adjective.

PATTERN

Noun + は + adjective (remove な) + です

For example:

EXAMPLE	HIRAGANA	ROMANISATION	ENGLISH
質問は簡単です。	しつもんはかんたんです。	Shitsumon wa kantan desu.	The question is easy.

Here is a list of some na adjectives:

HIRAGANA	ROMAji	ENGLISH	HIRAGANA	ROMAji	ENGLISH
にぎやかな	nigiyakana	Lively	じょうぶな	jyoubuna	Sturdy
たいへん	taihen	Very	いろいろな	iroirona	Various
すきな	sukina	Likeable	しんせつな	shinsetsuna	Kind
ひつような	hitsuyouna	Important	べんりな	benrina	Convenient
じょうずな	jyouzuna	Skilled	へたな	hetana	Unskilled

EXCEPTIONS TO JAPANESE ADJCTIVES

There are a few adjectives that you need to be cautious about.

These adjectives end with ii BUT they are na adjectives.
A bit confusing, right?

To remember these exceptions, you have to memorise them or practice sentences using these adjectives.

As they are na adjectives, the formation of sentences using these particles is similar to na adjectives.

STRUCTURE #1	STRUCTURE #2
きれいな花です。	花はきれいです。
Kireina hana desu.	Hana wa kirei desu.
It’s a beautiful flower.	The flower is beautiful.

Here’s some of these adjectives to be aware of:

HIRAGANA	ROMANISATION	ENGLISH
きれいな	kireina	Beautiful / Clean
ゆうめいな	yuumeina	Famous
ていねいな	teineina	Polite
しつれいな	shitsureina	Impolite
きらいな	kiraina	Dislike

FOREIGN ADJECTIVES IN JAPANESE

The Japanese language has included some foreign words into its vocabulary as adjectives. These foreign words, as we learned while learning the alphabets, are written in Katakana.

These foreign adjectives are considered na adjectives.

Few examples are:

ハンサムな	ユニークな	ドライ
hansamuna	yuniikuna	dorai
Handsome	Unique	dry

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FAQs

What are the types of Japanese adjectives?

There are two types of Japanese adjectives:

い形容詞 (ii-keiyoushi) and な形容詞 (na-keiyoushi)

i.e., i-adjectives and na-adjectives

Basically, these are the adjectives that either end with ii or na.

How to use adjectives in Japanese?

The Japanese ii adjectives can be used with 2 structures:

Adjective + Noun + です.

Noun + は + adjective + です.

The na adjectives can also be used with 2 structures:

Adjective + Noun + です.

Noun + は + adjective (remove な) + です.

Check out our lesson for sentence examples.

What are some examples of na-adjectives?

Some examples of na-adjectives in Japanese are:

にぎやかな nigiyakana | Lively

すきな sukina | Likeable

しんせつな shinsetsuna | Kind

じょうずな jyouzuna | Skilled

へたな hetana | Unskilled

What are some examples of ii-adjectives?

Some examples of ii-adjectives in Japanese are:

おおきい ookiii | Big

ちいさい chiisai | Small

あつい atsui | Hot

つめたい tsumetai | Cold

あたらしい atarashii | New

やすい yasui | Cheap

Where to learn about Japanese particles?

Japanese particles are an essential aspect of the language, and you should learn the basic ones early in your studies.

You can start with 15 Japanese particles in our article.

Do you have more lessons like this one?

Absolutely, we do.

You can check more of this kind of Japanese lessons in our Grammar Bank.

Japanese Grammar Bank

HOW TO USE JAPANESE ADJECTIVES