いadjectives and なadjectives

Today’s Question

このほんはゆうめいです。
＝これはゆうめい（ ）ほんです。
a. で b. な c. の d. leave it blank

Today, I’m going to talk about 2 things. One is about ゆうめい and the other about この/これ.

いadjectives and なadjectives

Adjectives are describing words. They are used to describe a noun. In the following pair, the bold word つめたいtsumetai/cold is the adjective and the underlined word みずmizu/water is the noun that つめたいtsumetai/cold is describing.

このkono みずmizu はwa つめたいtsumetai ですdesu。 This water is cold.
これkore はwa つめたいtsumetai みずmizu ですdesu。This is cold water.

In the above pair, the top sentence has the adjective between はwa and ですdesu (“predicative use”) and the second sentence has the adjective immediately before the noun (“attributive use”).

In Japanese, there are 2 different types of adjectives, いadjectives and なadjectives. いadjectives all end in the Hiragana い (thus they are called いadjectives) and なadjectives are usually* made of all Kanji (even though they are written in Hiragana here) or all Katakana, and they behave VERY differently. The definitive difference appears in front of a noun (in the “attributive use”); that is, only なadjectives need な if they are used in front of a noun, thus they are called なadjectives!

Answer to Today’s Question: b. な

Although ゆうめい ends in -い when written in Hiragana, normally it is written 有名 in Kanji and means “famous” or “well-known” and it is a なadjective. That means, you need な between ゆうめい and the noun after, which is ほん here.

Adjectives are describing words. They are used to describe a noun. In the following pair, the bold word つめたいtsumetai/cold is the adjective and the underlined word みずmizu/water is the noun that つめたいtsumetai/cold is describing.

このkono みずmizu はwa つめたいtsumetai ですdesu。 This water is cold.
これkore はwa つめたいtsumetai みずmizu ですdesu。This is cold water.

In the above pair, the top sentence has the adjective between はwa and ですdesu (“predicative use”) and the second sentence has the adjective immediately before the noun (“attributive use”).

For a list of なadjective which ends in -い, click here.

* The only なadjective that ends in the Hiragana -い and that you need to know as a beginner is 嫌きらい (dislike, unfond).

More examples

[なadjectives]

このkono ほんhonはwa ゆうめいyuumei ですdesu。This book is famous.
これkoreはwa ゆうめいyuumeiなna ほんhon ですdesu。This is a famous book.

そのsono もんだいmondaiはwa かんたんkantan ですdesu。This question is easy.
それsoreはwa かんたんkantanなna もんだいmondai ですdesu。This is an easy question.

あのano かばんkabanはwa じょうぶjoubu ですdesu。That bag is strong.
あれareはwa じょうぶjoubuなna かばんkaban ですdesu。That is a strong bag.

あのano こうえんkouenはwaしずかshizuka ですdesu。That park is quiet.
あれareはwa しずかshizukaなna こうえんkouen ですdesu。That is a quiet park.

[いadjectives]

このkono みずmizuはwa つめたいtsumetai ですdesu。 This water is cold.
これkoreはwa つめたいtsumetaiみずmizu ですdesu。This is cold water.

このkono ケーキkeekiはwa おいしいoishii ですdesu。 This cake is delicious.
これkoreはwa おいしいoishii ケーキkeeki ですdesu。This is a delicious cake.

このkono セーターseetaaはwa あたたかいatatakai ですdesu。This jumper is warm.
これkoreはwa あたたかいatatakai セーターseetaa ですdesu。This is a warm jumper.

そのsono ものがたりmonogatariはwaみじかいmijikai ですdesu。That story is short.
それsoreはwa みじかいmijikai ものがたりmonogatari ですdesu。That is a short story.

あのano まんがmangaはwa つまらないtsumaranai ですdesu。That cartoon is boring.
あれareはwa つまらないtsumaranai まんがmanga ですdesu。That is a boring cartoon.

Today’s point: a なadjective needs な if it’s used in front of a noun.

I will talk about other differences between いadjectives and なadjectives at another time.

Suggested activities

If a sentence below starts with このkono、そのsono、あのano, change it to a sentence starting with これkore、それsore、あれare or vise-versa. Check your answer with above examples.

1. あのano かばんkabanはwa じょうぶjoubu ですdesu。
2. あのano こうえんkouenはwa しずかshizuka ですdesu。
3. あれareはwa つまらないtsumaranai まんがmanga ですdesu。
4. このkono セーターseetaaはwa あたたかいatatakai ですdesu。
5. このkono ほんhonはwa ゆうめいyuumei ですdesu。
6. このkono みずmizuはwa つめたいtsumetai ですdesu。
7. これkoreはwa おいしいoishii ケーキkeeki ですdesu。
8. そのsono もんだいmondaiはwa かんたんkantan ですdesu。
9. それsoreはwa みじかいmijikai ものがたりmonogatari ですdesu。

Related Posts

• なadjectives ending in い
• いadjectives and なadjectives (2)

You can try doing Exercises 4 to 8 of Module 2 of the Moodle Course.