Basic question about negative adjectives

Hello all,

I've been learning Japanese for a couple of months and I'm currently looking at adjectives. I have a question about negative adjectives in the non-past. When it comes to negating adjectives, the book I'm using only mentions how it works when the adjective is the predicate (after the noun), and it doesn't say anything about what happens when the adjective is before the noun but the sentence is negative. Could you let me know if the below are correct (particularly D and F)?

When using adjectives as the predicate I have it clear (I think):
A. その犬はかわいいです。 That dog is cute.
B. その犬はかわいくありません。 That dog isn't cute.

But when using adjectives before nouns:
C. それは小さい猫です。 That's a small cat.
D. それは小さい猫ではありません。That's not a small cat. <------ Is this one possible?

Another example, with a -な adjective:
E. ジャスティン・ビーバーは有名人です。Justin Bieber is a famous person.
F. じゅんさんは有名人ではありません。 Jun isn't a famous person. <-------- Is this one possible?

Thanks in advance!

All the sentences (A~F) are correct.

Hello all,

I've been learning Japanese for a couple of months and I'm currently looking at adjectives. I have a question about negative adjectives in the non-past. When it comes to negating adjectives, the book I'm using only mentions how it works when the adjective is the predicate (after the noun), and it doesn't say anything about what happens when the adjective is before the noun but the sentence is negative. Could you let me know if the below are correct (particularly D and F)?

When using adjectives as the predicate I have it clear (I think):
A. その犬はかわいいです。 That dog is cute.
B. その犬はかわいくありません。 That dog isn't cute.

But when using adjectives before nouns:
C. それは小さい猫です。 That's a small cat.
D. それは小さい猫ではありません。That's not a small cat. <------ Is this one possible?

Another example, with a -な adjective:
E. ジャスティン・ビーバーは有名人です。Justin Bieber is a famous person.
F. じゅんさんは有名人ではありません。 Jun isn't a famous person. <-------- Is this one possible?

Thanks in advance!

To further clarify:

In E and F, the word 有名人 (ゆうめいじん) is a noun. It may be a bit confusing as in English it translates to "famous person". You can separate the term and use it as a な adjective, though: 有名な人 (ゆうめい な ひと).....which also translates to "famous person".

Thanks everyone, your replies have been really helpful.

notice that your question and the examples you give don't match. Both in the CD and the EF example you write "NOUN desu" = "It is NOUN" and negate it to "NOUN de ha arimasen" = "It is not NOUN".

You will be interested to know that you can negate the adjective itself, and still place it before a noun. For instance:

おいしいお寿司です。 This is good tasting sushi.
おいしくないお寿司です。 This is bad tasting sushi.

正しい言葉を書きました。 I wrote a correct word.
正しくない言葉を書きました。 I wrote an incorrect word.

Click to expand...

Great, that's exactly what I was wondering; whether you can put a negative adjective before the noun. Thanks!