What's new

Adjective conjugation

tanhql

日本語の学生
3 Jun 2006
186
2
33
Seeing my japanese class is going to touch on adjectives in a few weeks time, i decided to get a headstart first by learning the adjective conjugations in the different tenses.

い adjective
present tense
polite: 楽しいです
casual: 楽しい
past tense
polite: 楽しかったです
casual: 楽しかった
present negative
polite: 楽しくありません/楽しくないです
casual: 楽しくない
past negative
polite: 楽しくありませんでした/楽しくなかったです
casual: 楽しくなかった
~te forms
楽しくて

な adjective
present tense
polite: 静かです
casual: 静かだ
past tense
polite: 静かでした
casual: 静かだった
present negative
polite: 静かじゃありません/静かではありません
casual: 静かじゃない/静かではない
past negative
polite: 静かじゃありませんでした/静かではなかったです
casual: 静かじゃなかった/静かではなかった
~te forms
静かで

irregular adjective
present tense
polite: いいです
casual: いい
past tense
polite: よかったです
casual: よかった
present negative
polite: よくありません/よくないです
casual: よくない
past negative
polite: よくありませんでした/よくなかったです
casual: よくなかった
~te forms
~te forms: よくて

Are the conjugations correct? are there any other versions of the same conjugation?

What is the kanji for いい?

Also, 大きい is an い adjective, so why do i sometimes hear 大きいな物 instead of 大きい物?

Thanks.
 
your conjugations look fine. The kanji for いい is 良い, but when I see the kanji used I read it よい; it is still a common sight, but the kanji really isn't necessary for this one.

I have wondered whether 大きな is entirely correct, but I do hear it quite often. I have interpreted it as an emphasis on the adjective.
 
Last edited:
also, 大きい is an い adjective, so why do i sometimes hear 大きいな物 instead of 大きい物?

I'm only a beginner, but according to my text book both ookii and
ooki-na are correct (the same applies to "chiisai", they can be -i
adjectives and -na adjectives). There's surely some difference between
the two, but I cannot seem to find it.

For me, the -na adjective sounds a little more cutesy *, so I tend to
use it with chiisai, but not with ooki. I also tend to think that I use the -na in
the attributive form and -i with the predicative form, but it actually doesn't change from the normal -na conjugation, does it? :p

* As I said, I have only been learning Japanese for less than 6 months, so
please take it with a grain of salt.

Sorry for hijacking your thread but I also have a little question ... :?

When using various adjectives with the same subject I use: -kute with i
adj and -de with -na adj. But what goes with colours? For example:

ookikute benride gin-iro no kasa= ookikute gin-iro ? benrina
kasa

or even better, how do I say: "a silver and golden umbrella". ?


Thanks in advance !!!
 
Both 大きい and 大きな mean the same (big), but 大きい is i-adjective while 大きな is na-adjective.
大きな is quite commonly used but always placed before noun, never used as complement. As a complement, always 大きい is used.

大きな木 correct
大きい木 correct
あの木は大きだ wrong
あの木は大きい correct

Same about 小さい and 小さな.

「大きいな」物 must be a typing error. It should be 「大きな」物.
大きいなあ is something totally different, なあ is used to emphasize 大きい.
(なあ is to express one's feeling - astonished, impressed, annoyed, etc.)
 
Sorry for hijacking your thread but I also have a little question ... :?
When using various adjectives with the same subject I use: -kute with i
adj and -de with -na adj. But what goes with colours? For example:
ookikute benride gin-iro no kasa= ookikute gin-iro ? benrina
kasa
or even better, how do I say: "a silver and golden umbrella". ?
Thanks in advance !!!

To use more than two adjectives in a sentence, yes, you can use te for i-adjective (sometimes de depending on the conjugation) and de for na-adjective.
(iro)+no is not adjective, this actually is a combination of noun and particle no, which can be used like an adjective.
Since it is not adjective and "no" is a particle, it never conjugate. But you should replace "no" with "de" in such a sentence.

大きい傘 + 銀色の傘 +便利な傘
→大きくて銀色で便利な傘
 
thanks for the help!

another question: how do you use 欲しい as in 'want', as in both 'want to eat' and 'want that toy'?
 
欲しい is just for the desire of objects, or for other people to perform actions. There is a conjugation for "eat" that means "want to eat:" 食べたい(です)
 
それが欲しい。
i want that.

これを食べて欲しい。
i want you to eat this.

did i use 欲しい correctly?
are there any other uses of 欲しい?

another unrelated question: is たくさん and 少し use the same way as counters are in japanese? like:

林檎を一個...
林檎をたくさん...

二個の林檎...
少しの林檎...
 
たくさん と 少し are normally used for amounts.
たくさん食べたい。。 I want to eat alot.
少し食べてもいいよ。 It's ok to eat a little.

I think you want to use the dictionary form +のが欲しい to specify wanting someone to do something.
Ex.
I want her to come to America. 僕は彼女がアメリカに来るのが欲しいです。
 
それが欲しい。
i want that.
これを食べて欲しい。
i want you to eat this.
did i use 欲しい correctly?
are there any other uses of 欲しい?

Yes, both are correct.
:)

I cannot think of any other usage at the moment...


another unrelated question: is たくさん and 少し use the same way as counters are in japanese? like:
林檎を一個...
林檎をたくさん...
二個の林檎...
少しの林檎...

Yes, you got it correctly about たくさん/少し.
👍
 
To use more than two adjectives in a sentence, yes, you can use te for i-adjective (sometimes de depending on the conjugation) and de for na-adjective.
(iro)+no is not adjective, this actually is a combination of noun and particle no, which can be used like an adjective.
Since it is not adjective and "no" is a particle, it never conjugate. But you should replace "no" with "de" in such a sentence.
大きい傘 + 銀色の傘 +便利な傘
→大きくて銀色で便利な傘


Thanks a lot !!!!
 
I think you want to use the dictionary form +のが欲しい to specify wanting someone to do something.
Ex.
I want her to come to America. 僕は彼女がアメリカに来るのが欲しいです。

Damicci san, I'm afraid that you cannot say 来るのが欲しい.
When saying want to (do), you should use ~(し)たい
e.g.
本を読みたい 出かけたい 走りたい 行きたい
彼女はアメリカに来たい

and in case want someone to (do), XXに~て欲しい
e.g.
彼女に本を読んで欲しい 出かけて欲しい 走って欲しい 行って欲しい
彼女にアメリカに来て欲しい

As for ~のが欲しい, "~" is used to modify a noun which is represented by の.
This "~" cannot be the direct object of 欲しい.
e.g.
何色の傘が欲しいですか?
赤い傘が欲しい 赤いのが欲しい
どの子犬が欲しいですか?
走っているのが欲しい あの眠っているのが欲しい
 
はぁ、また悲しいニューズ。。。
ありがとうUndrentideさん。 :(
もっと勉強します。
 
Back
Top Bottom