Have you started learning Japanese adjectives? Once you get the hang of basic Japanese grammar structure, you will want to form more complex sentences. What happens if you want to say that the dog is cute? Or short? Or friendly? This is where Japanese adjectives come in: to make you express more, rather than just stating the obvious. (Sure, that is a dog, but what about it?)
Japanese adjectives aren’t just used to describe physical appearance or behavior. They’re used as quantifiers — to express emotions and detail dimensions. They’re used to modify a noun. While they function similarly to English, the grammar rules of Japanese adjectives are a little bit complex, too.
This will be a self-study guide on Japanese adjectives, complete with example sentences. We’ll talk you through the two kinds of adjectives and how to use them, but if you want to get more support and direction from native instructors, we suggest you take a look at our online Japanese course.
Before we go further into the article, note that this article will mostly use hiragana, so prior knowledge of them is a must. If you’re still learning them, don’t worry — take a look at our hiragana chart to review them.
Also check out our video explaining い-adjectives and な-adjectives!
What are Adjectives in Japanese?
Adjectives in Japanese, or 形容詞 (keiyoushi), are descriptive words that add details to nouns by describing details about the noun. Adjectives in Japanese operate similarly to those in English, being used to describe the noun in the sentence. Adjectives come in many forms, including:
1. Descriptive adjectives
Describe physical characteristics such as color (blue or red), size (large or small), the materials of something (wooden or metal), and age (old or young). Here are some common descriptive adjectives in Japanese
| Japanese | Furigana | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 赤い | あかい | akai | red |
| 青い | あおい | aoi | blue (or green) |
| 黄色 | きいろ | kiro | yellow |
| 大きい | おおきい | ookii | large |
| ちさい | ちさい | chisai | little |
| 若い | わかい | wakai | young |
| 古い | ふるい | furui | old |
| 綺麗 | きれい | kirei | pretty/clean |
| 美しい | うつくしい | utsukushii | beautiful |
| 硬い | かたい | katai | hard |
| 柔らかい | やわらかい | yawarakai | soft |
2. Quantitative Adjectives
Adjectives also describe the quantity of something, such as how many, how few, or a specific number of something. However, in Japanese, using numbers as an adjective would require using counters, which change based on what thing you are counting. For general objects, it’s common to use the 和語 (wago) or native Japanese counting system (e.g., hitotsu, futatsu, mitsu).
| Romaji | English | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | Furigana | Romaji | English |
| 多い | おおい | ooi | a lot |
| たくさん | たくさん | takusan | a lot |
| 少ない | すくない | sukunai | a little |
| 結構 | けっこう | kekkou | some |
| 一つ | ひとつ | hitotsu | 1 (object) |
| 二つ | ふたつ | futatsu | 2 (objects) |
| 三つ | みっつ | mittsu | 3 (objects) |
To learn more about how counting and numbers work in Japanese, read our blog: How to Count & Read Numbers in Japanese.
3. Proper Adjectives
Similar to nouns, adjectives can also be proper, which can be the names of people, places, and things like products. In English, proper nouns are often conjugated into adjectives, but they will differ depending on the type of noun. In Japanese, it works similarly, but let’s explore how they differ:
Persons:
John → John’s
ジョン → ジョンの
Places:
Japan → Japanese
日本 (nihon) → 日本の (nihonno)
Things:
Nike → Nike’s (often the ‘s is omitted, e.g., Nike shoes)
ナイキ → ナイキの
In Japanese, you attach the particle の to nouns, whether they are proper or not, to transform it into an adjective.
4. Adjectives for Abstract Characteristics
Adjectives are also used to describe abstract characteristics such as the function, value, and quality of something or the behavior of someone. For example, a machine can be described as expensive or cheap, and a person can be described as smart or kind.
| Japanese | Furigana | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| うるさい | うるさい | akai | red |
| 静か | しずか | shizuka | quiet |
| 頭がいい | あたまがいい | atama ga ii | smart |
| 難しい | むずかしい | muzukashii | difficult |
| 優しい | やさしい | yasashii | easy/kind |
| 意地悪 | いじわる | ijiwaru | mean |
| 厳しい | きびしい | kibishii | strict |
| すごい | すごい | sugoi | amazing |
| 美味しい | おいしい | oishii | delicious |
| 高い | たかい | takai | expensive |
| 安い | やすい | yasui | cheap |
| 危ない | あぶない | abunai | dangerous |
| 安全 | あんぜん | anzen | safe |
| 早い | はやい | hayai | fast |
| 遅い | おそい | osoi | slow |
Just like in English, adjectives in Japanese are descriptors that modify nouns; however, there are 2 different types of grammatical Japanese adjectives to be aware of.
Types of Japanese Adjectives (And How to Use Them)
Japanese adjectives are categorized into two types: な-adjectives and い-adjectives. Their main function is to describe nouns, but these adjectives can also be transformed into nouns themselves.
The easiest way to separate な-adjectives and い-adjectives is by checking the adjective’s ending. More precisely, it is whether the word ends with い or not. For example, 大きい (ookii) is an i-adjective, but 静か is a na-adjective.
Of course, this is a rule of thumb, but there are exceptions you need to note as well. What you need to know are the grammar particles and the way they conjugate.
To know all the basic Japanese adjectives, check out the 100 most common adjectives we’ve collected.
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い-adjectives in Japanese
The い-adjective is easy to identify: they end in い. Some い-adjectives might also have a double い (いい), but their stem form will usually stay the same regardless of the form it takes.
In this case, we’ll be using the example 高い (たかい), which means high (height) or expensive (price). Briefly, this is how you will conjugate an い-adjective into different tenses and forms.
| Form | Kanji | Hiragana | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive (Present) | 高い | たかい | High |
| Negative (Present) | 高くない | たかくない | Not high |
| Positive (Past) | 高かった | たかかった | Was high |
| Negative (Present) | 高くなかった | たかくなかった | Was not high |
Present Tense for I-adjectives
To express an い-adjective in the present tense, simply let it take its original stem form and add an 〜い (already joined).
Keep in mind that Japanese does not clearly distinguish between the present and the future tense. A sentence in the present tense can also refer to the future, depending on the context. In other words, Japanese treats them as the same tense.
今日の天気はいいです。
Kyou no tenki wa ii desu.
The weather is nice today.
明日の天気はいいです。
Ashita on tenki wa ii desu.
The weather will be nice tomorrow.
Negative (Present) Tense for I-adjectives
To make a present-tense い-adjective negative, replace the 〜い with 〜くない.
| Base Adjective | Rule | Negative Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 〜い adjective | 〜い → 〜くない | 〜くない | not ~ |
今日は寒くないです。
Kyou wa samukunai desu.
It is not cold today.
Past Tense for I-adjectives
To express an い-adjective in the present tense, you must omit the 〜い from the word’s stem form and join it with a 〜かった.
| Base Adjective | Rule | Negative (Past) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 〜い adjective | 〜い → 〜くなかった | 〜くなかった | was not ~ |
あの車が高かったです。
Ano kuruma ga takakatta desu.
That car was expensive.
Negative (Past) Tense for I-adjectives
For this, similar to negative and past adjectives, you can change the 〜い with a new conjugation, which is a combination of くない and かった: 〜くなかった.
| Base Adjective | Rule | Negative (Past) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 〜い adjective | 〜い → 〜くなかった | 〜くなかった | was not ~ |
Exception for Adjective
1. 良い (Yoi): Good, well, great
Normally, the stem of an い-adjective stays the same regardless of tense or form. One important exception: いい (good).
Although it is commonly used as いい, the original form is よい (良い). In the present positive tense, both いい and よい can be used, with よい sounding more formal. However, when changing the adjective into negative or past forms, the stem changes to よ, not い.
This is why the correct forms are よくない (not good), よかった (was good), and よくなかった (was not good).
| Form | Kanji | Hiragana | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive (Present) | 良い | よい；いい | Good; well |
| Negative (Present) | 良くない | よくない | Not good |
| Positive (Past) | 良かった | よかった | Was good |
| Negative (Present) | 良くなかった | よくなかった | Was not good |
2. かっこい (Kakkoi): Cool
The same thing can be said with かっこいい (cool). When it becomes a negative form or past tense, the stem changes to よ. Instead of かっこいくない, change it to かっこよくない.
3. きれい (Kirei) and きらい (Kirai)
One last thing: also, it seems like it, きれい (pretty or clean) and きらい (hate or dislike) are actually na-adjectives even though the word ends with い, so be careful!
野菜がきらくない。
Yasai ga kirakunai.
I don’t hate vegetables. (Wrong)
野菜がきらいじゃない。
Yasai ga kirai ja nai.
I don’t hate vegetables. (Correct)
Casual Form for I-adjectives
For the polite form of い-adjective, you will need to add the auxiliary verb of です. For negative and past adjective forms, follow the same conjugational transformation as well.
| Form | Casual Form | Polite form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive (Present) | よい | よい；いいです | Good; well |
| Negative (Present) | よくない | よくないです | Not good |
| Positive (Past) | よかった | よかったです | Was good |
| Negative (Present) | よくなかった | よくなかったです | Was not good |
Making it a casual form is easier; simply remove the です and leave it as it is. However, note that this only applies when the adjective is put at the end of the sentence.
A lot of Japanese people will even shorten the adjective and omit the い. For example, when talking with friends in a good mood, people will say すげー instead of すごい to express something amazing, or うまー instead of うまい to compliment a very delicious meal.
な-adjectives in Japanese
A な-adjective, or na keiyoushi (な形容詞), is a type of Japanese adjective that acts like a noun and needs な when directly describing a noun. Unlike い-adjectives, you can’t modify conjugations in な-adjectives directly to express tense or form. Instead, think of them as nouns (although they’re not, so be careful).
This is because the way you modify its value is the same as how you would with nouns. What you want to do instead is to change the auxiliary verb of the whole sentence or phrase：です、ではありません、 でした or ではありませんでした.
The way you can identify a な-adjective is by looking at the particle attached to it: な. For example, 元気な人 (genki na hito), which means a healthy (or happy, depending on the context) person. A lot of people find な-adjectives to be easier to learn because of their simple (and easy modification) rule.
Like い-adjectives, you can put a な-adjective before a noun. When you do so, the adjective-noun combination becomes the subject.
You can also put a な-adjective at the end of a sentence. When that happens, the form is like this:
| Form | Structure | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Present Affirmative | Adjective + な + Noun + です | is ~ |
| Present Negative | Adjective + な + Noun + ではありません | is not ~ |
| Past Affirmative | Adjective + な + Noun + でした | was ~ |
| Past Negative | Adjective + な + Noun + ではありませんでした | was not ~ |
In this case, we’ll be using the example 元気, which means happy or healthy. Briefly, this is how you will transform a な-adjective into different tenses and forms.
Present Tense for Na-adjectives
The most basic form of な-adjectives — meaning, positive value in the present tense — is followed by the auxiliary verb of です (polite) or だ (casual). Keep in mind that, similar to い-adjectives, the present and future tense use the same form. To describe a noun, you need to put the particle な in the middle of the adjective and the noun (hence, it’s called na-adjective). Take a look at the example below.
| Form | Kanji | Hiragana | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive (Present) | 元気だ | げんきだ | Healthy; lively |
| Negative (Present) | 元気じゃない | げんきじゃない | Not healthy; lively |
| Positive (Past) | 元気だった | げんきだった | Was healthy; lively |
| Negative (Present) | 元気じゃなかった | げんきじゃなかった | Was not healthy; lively |
好きな人は田中さんだ。
Suki na hito wa Tanaka-san da.
The person I like is Tanaka-san.
As we mentioned before, the conjugation rules for な-adjectives are the same as nouns, so even when the adjective is put at the end of the sentence, you will still use だ.
田中さんが好きだ。
Tanaka-san ga suki da.
I like Tanaka-san.
Negative (Present) Tense for Na-adjectives
Similarly, to conjugate the auxiliary verb to get to the negative form for な-adjective, add 〜じゃありません. You can also use 〜ではありません, which has the same meaning (negative value), but sounds more polite and is usually used in written Japanese.
To make it casual, you can shorten it into 〜じゃない or 〜ではない.
あのウェイターはお客さんに親切ではない。
Ano weitaa wa okyakusama ni shinsetsu dehanai.
That waiter is not kind to guests.
あまり歌っていなくて、カラオケが上手じゃない。
Amari utte inakute, karaoke ga jouzu janai.
Because I don’t sing so much, I’m not good at karaoke.
You can also put a negative な-adjective before a noun.
Past Tense for Na-adjectives
To indicate that something was true before (and is not now), you will need to add だった (casual) or でした (polite) at the end of the sentence or phrase with a な-adjective.
子供の頃、お風呂が嫌いだった。
Kodomo no koro, ofuro ga kirai datta.
When I was a kid, I hated taking a bath.
Negative (Past) Tense for Na-adjectives
As with previous Japanese adjective modification, to make a na-adjective negative and in the past tense, simple add じゃありませんでした or ではありませんでした。
You can make it more casual by just transforming the auxiliary verb.
| Style | Form | Structure | Example (きれい) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polite | Standard | Adjective + ではありませんでした | きれいではありませんでした |
| Polite | Casual alt. | Adjective + じゃありませんでした | きれいじゃありませんでした |
| Casual | Plain | Adjective + ではなかった | きれいではなかった |
| Casual | Common | Adjective + じゃなかった | きれいじゃなかった |
この街は静かじゃなかった。
Kono machi wa shizuka janakatta.
This town wasn’t peaceful (before).
リノベーションの前に、ホテルはきれいではありませんでした。
Rinobeeshon no mae ni, hoteru wa kirei dewa arimasen deshita.
Before the renovation, the hotel wasn’t pretty.
Casual Form for Na-adjectives
We’ve touched up how to change polite forms to casual forms for な-adjective, but we’ve made a table to sum it all up.
| Form | Casual Form | Polite Form |
|---|---|---|
| Positive (Present) | 元気だ | 元気です |
| Negative (Present) | 元気じゃない | 元気じゃありません |
| Positive (Past) | 元気だった | 元気でした |
| Negative (Present) | 元気じゃなかった | 元気じゃありませんでした |
Exceptions and What You Need to Know for Na-adjectives
You can immediately modify な-adjectives into a negative value, past tense, or both, and join it with a noun. However, keep in mind that this is only applicable if you use casual auxiliary verbs.
Here are a few examples:
元気じゃない人
Genki ja nai hito. (Correct)
元気じゃありません人
Genki ja arimasen hito. (Wrong)
元気だった人
Genki datta hito. (Correct)
元気でした人
Genki deshita hito. (Wrong)
Another thing to keep in mind is an exception: the Japanese adjective 同じ (onaji), which means “the same”. Even though it is technically a な-adjective, you will have to remove the な when you combine it with a noun.
君は僕と同じな背の高さです。(Wrong)
Kimi wa boku to onaji na se no takasa desu.
You are as tall as I am.
君は僕と同じ背の高さです。(Correct)
Kimi wa boku to onaji na se no takasa desu.
Learning to use and modify Japanese adjectives can be tricky, especially with the exceptions and grammar rules to remember. However, mastering the distinction between い-adjectives and な-adjectives will help you add more color and detail to your sentences.
Once you’ve learned some Japanese adjectives, we recommend practicing them with immersive Japanese listening conversations. Our Japanese podcasts are a great way to do this. Additionally, the NHK World Japan Audio Shows offer excellent listening practice for learners at any level.
Turning Adjectives into Adverbs in Japanese
In Japanese, adjectives can turn into adverbs and are actually commonly used as adjectives. Conjugating adjectives into adverbs differs depending on whether it is an い-adjective or な-adjective. Let’s take a look at some examples to dive into how it works.
1. Using い-adjectives as Adverbs
To use い-adjectives as adverbs, you must conjugate い into く. For example, to use the adjective 早い (hayai), or quick, as an adverb, you conjugate it into 早く (hayaku) and place it before a verb. Here’s how it works:
早い (hayai) → 早く(hayaku)
Example:
もうすぐ会議があるので、早く食べないといけないです。
Sugu kaigi ga arunode, haraku tabenai to ikenai desu.
Because I have a meeting soon, I have to eat quickly.
2. Using な-adjectives as Adverbs
To use な-adjectives as adverbs, you don’t have to conjugate the word at all, and in many cases, you can just add the word right before the verb. For example, you can say たくさんを食べた (takusan tabeta) to say “I ate a lot.”
But in many other cases, you would need to attach the particle に to the adjective. For example, if you want to say “please go home safely,” you would say 安全にかえってください (anzen ni kaete kudasai), meaning please go home safely.
Using Adjectives as Nouns in Japanese
You can also use adjectives as nouns in Japanese, and it’s quite common; we do it quite often in English, like when we say “many will be there” or “few have visited.” In Japanese, using adjectives in this way might be even more flexible. So, let’s see how it works between い and な adjectives.
1. Using い-adjectives as a Noun
To use an い-adjective as a noun, you just need to conjugate the い into く, just like you would for adverbs. Then, the word can operate just like a noun and can be used as the subject or object of the sentence.
Example 1:
近い (chikai) → 近く(chikaku)
近くが見える
Chikaku ga mieru
I can see the close one.
Example 2
遅い (osoi) → 遅く(osoku)
いつも遅くのはジョンです。
Itsumo osokuno wa jon desu.
The one who is always late is John.
2. Using な-adjectives as a Noun
Using a な-adjective as a noun is quite simple and doesn’t need any conjugation. You would just simply need to attach the correct particle to have the adjective operate like a noun.
Example:
たくさんがパーティーに来ました。
Takusan ga paatii ni kimashita.
Many came to the party.
Conclusion: Adjectives are the Building Blocks of Japanese
Adjectives are what allow us to describe different things when we make sentences in Japanese. Whether you need to specify that something is blue, green, quiet, or loud, or if a person is sweet, strict, nice, or friendly, you need to use adjectives. In Japanese, they can be used very flexibly, even as adverbs or adjectives.
So, try to remember as many adjectives as you can to add to your Japanese arsenal to describe the world around you or give details when explaining an experience!
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FAQ
What’s the difference between い-adjectives and な-adjectives?
い-adjectives directly modify nouns and change form based on tense, while な-adjectives require the particle な before a noun and use auxiliary verbs to change tense.
Can I use い-adjectives and な-adjectives interchangeably?
No, they follow different grammatical rules. Make sure to use them appropriately based on the sentence structure.
What are the exceptions to na-adjectives?
While most な-adjectives follow a consistent rule, there are a few notable exceptions to keep in mind:
- きれい (kirei) – Meaning “pretty” or “clean,” this adjective ends with い but is still considered a な-adjective. It requires the particle な when used before a noun (e.g., きれいな花 – a pretty flower.
- きらい(kirai) – Meaning “hate” or “dislike,” this adjective also ends in い but functions as a な-adjective. It uses the な particle when modifying a noun (e.g., きらいな食べ物 – a disliked foods.
- おなじ (onaji) – Meaning “same,” this adjective is usually a な-adjective, but when modifying a noun, the な particle is often omitted (e.g., 君は僕とおなじ背の高さです – You are the same height as me.
- だめ (dame) – Meaning “no good” or “unacceptable,” this adjective doesn’t require な when used before a noun in many cases (e.g., だめなこと – “a bad thing”).