How do you tell your friend that their home-cooked meal is delicious? How do you compliment someone? You can’t make a conversation interesting by just nodding and smiling — you need to describe. This is why Japanese adjectives are important. In its essence, Japanese adjectives are used to describe or modify a noun. The good thing about the Japanese language is that, unlike English, you don’t have to sort adjectives into an order: does the color “red” come before “hot”; does “new” need to be put after “soft”? It doesn’t matter.

Let’s look at some of the most common Japanese adjectives you’ll want in your back pocket.

Basic Guide on Japanese Adjectives: Na and I Adjectives

Japanese adjectives are categorized into two: な-adjectives and い-adjectives. The easiest way to separate one from the other is by checking the ending — more precisely, whether or not the word ends with an い (i).

Kanji	Romaji	English	Adjective Type
高い	Takai	High	い-adjective
低い	Hikui	Low	い-adjective
元気	Genki	Healthy; lively	な-adjective
きれい	Kirei	Pretty; clean	な-adjective

Of course, the rule isn’t entirely accurate either. Notice that the word げんき and きれい ends with い, when in fact they are na-adjectives? What’s more important is knowing the Japanese grammar particles and modifications (to past, negative or past-negative forms) involved. It can be perplexing at first, especially if you’re new to the game.

Here’s where things get complicated: Japanese I-adjectives modify themselves. For example, when you say “this is not expensive” in English, you’re not actually modifying the word “expensive”. Rather, you’re modifying the “to be” verb.

However, in い-adjectives, you will need to transform the end. Take a look at the table below. We’ll be using the adjective たかい・高い, which means high (depth) or expensive.

Form	Japanese
Present positive	高い
Past positive	高い　→　高かった
Present negative	高い　→　高くない
Past negative	高い　→　高くなかった

な-adjective is more convenient and similar to that of English. Its most defining trait is the な particle put between the adjective and the noun.

田中さんは有名な歌手です。
Tanaka-san wa yuumei na kashu desu.
Tanaka-san is a famous singer

関口先生は親切な人だ。
Sekiguchi-sensei wa shinsetsu na hito da.
Sekiguchi-sensei is a kind person.

When you want to change a na-adjective’s tense — be it to negative, past or past-negative — you cannot transform the stem word itself. Instead, you alter the linking verb: です. To paint a better picture, we’ve set another table using a common N5-level Japanese, 元気・げんき, which means health or lively.

Form	Japanese (Casual)	Japanese (Polite)
Present positive	元気だ	元気です
Past positive	元気だった	元気でした
Present negative	元気じゃない	元気じゃありません
Past negative	元気じゃなかった	元気じゃありませんでした

Before we go further into the article, note that from now, we’ll be using hiragana for example sentences. If you’re still learning them, don’t worry — take a look at our hiragana chart for the ultimate review.

Japanese Adjectives For Sense and Taste

The word あつい can be easily translated as “hot”, but depending on the context, the kanji used differs. In this category, the あつい we’re referring to takes on the kanji of 熱い instead of 暑い. This is because 熱い implies the hot sensation by touch instead of the surrounding temperature.

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
熱い	あつい	atsui	Hot (touch)
冷たい	つめたい	tsumetai	Chilly
	あたたかい	atatakai	Warm (touch)
美味しい	おいしい	oishii	Delicious
不味い	まずい	mazui	Disgusting
塩辛い	しおからい	shiokarai	Salty
甘い	あまい	amai	Sweet
苦い	にがい	nigai	Bitter
酸っぱい	すっぱい	suppai	Sour
辛い	からい	karai	Spicy
臭い	くさい	kusai	Smelly
硬い	かたい	katai	Hard
柔らかい	やわらかい	yawarakai	Soft

Japanese Adjectives For Number and Quantifier

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
多い	おおい	ooi	many
少ない	すくない	sukunai	few
	たくさんな	takusan na	a lot
十分な	じゅうぶんな	juubun na	enough

Japanese Adjectives For Dimension and Speed

Here, note that there are two meanings (and two kanji) for the word はやい: 速い and 早い. 速い is used to describe something or someone’s speed, while 早い has a closer meaning to “early”.

田中さんは速いランナーです。
たなかさんははやいランナーです。
Tanaka-san is a fast runner.

去年、春の訪れが早かった。
きょねん、はるのおとずれがはやかった。
Last year, spring came early.

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	Englih
大きい	おおきい	ookii	Big
小さい	ちいさい	chiisai	Small
長い	ながい	nagai	Long
短い	みじかい	mijikai	Short
広い	ひろい	hiroi	Wide
狭い	せまい	semai	Narrow
深い	ふかい	fukai	Deep
浅い	あさい	asai	Shallow
速い	はやい	hayai	Fast (Speed)
早い	はやい	hayai	Early
遅い	おそい	osoi	Slow
高い	たかい	takai	Tall
低い	ひくい	hikui	Low
重い	おもい	omoi	Heavy
軽い	かるい	karui	Light (weight)
近い	ちかい	chikai	Near
遠い	とおい	tooi	Far
太い	ふとい	futoi	Fat; thick
遅い	おそい	osoi	Thin

Japanese Adjectives For Colors, Shapes, and Texture

Historically, the Japanese language doesn’t make a distinct separation between blue and green. This is why the adjective for the color blue and green is あおい・青い.

However, there is a word to describe green in modern Japanese: みどり・緑, although it is still less commonly used. To use this, instead of attaching the adjective to な, you will use の instead.

緑の地球を守りましょう。
みどりのちきゅうをまもりましょう。
Let’s protect this green earth.

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
青い	あおい	aoi	Blue, green
黄色い	きいろい	kiiroi	Yellow
赤い	あかい	akai	Red
黒い	くろい	kuroi	Black
白い	しろい	shiroi	White
明るい	あかるい	akarui	Light
暗い	くらい	kurai	Dark
鋭い	するどい	surudoi	Sharp, pointy
四角い	しかくい	shikakui	Rectangular
丸い	まるい	marui	Round
荒い	あらい	arai	Rough
平らな	たいらな	taira na	Flat

Japanese Adjectives For Weather and Physical Condition

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
	きれいな	kirei na	Pretty, clean
美しい	うつくしい	utsukushii	Beautiul, lovely
	かわいい	kawaii	Cute
醜い	みにくい	minikui	Ugly
若い	わかい	wakai	Young
古い	ふるい	furui	Old
強い	つよい	tsuyoi	Strong
弱い	よわい	yowai	Weak
寒い	さむい	samui	Cold
暑い	あつい	atsui	Hot
蒸し暑い	むしあつい	mushiatsui	Humid
汚い	きたない	kitanai	Dirty

Japanese Adjectives For Social Situation and Condition

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
良い	よい, いい	yoi, ii	Good, alright, enough
	すごい	sugoi	Amazing, great
素晴らしい	すばらしい	subarashii	Wonderful, splendid
悪い	わるい	warui	Bad
安全な	あんぜんな	anzen na	Safe
危ない	あぶない	abunai	Dangerous
高い	たかい	takai	Expensive
安い	やすい	yasui	Cheap
裕福な	ゆうふくな	yuufuku na	Rich
貧しい	まずしい	mazushii	Poor
賢い	かしこい	kashikoi	Smart
忙しい	いそがしい	isogashii	Busy
詰まらない	つまらない	tsumaranai	Boring
複雑な	ふくざつな	fukuzatsu na	Complicated
大切な	たいせつな	taisetsu na	Important
難しい	むずかしい	muzukashii	Difficult
簡単な	かんたんな	kantan na	Easy
変な	へんな	hen na	Weird
無理な	むりな	muri na	Impossible
上手な	じょうずな	jouzu na	Skillful
下手な	へたな	heta na	Unskillful
煩い	うるさい	urusai	Noisy
静かな	しずかな	shizuka na	Quiet, peaceful

Japanese Adjectives For Positive Feelings

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
優しい	やさしい	yasashii	Kind, gentle
親切な	しんせつな	shinsetsu na	Kind
好きな	すきな	suki na	Like
親しい	したしい	shitashii	Close (friendly)
嬉しい	うれしい	ureshii	Happy
元気な	げんきな	genki na	Cheerful, healthy, lively
面白い	おもしろい	omoshiroi	Funny, interesting
楽しい	たのしい	tanoshii	Enjoyable, fun
幸せな	しあわせな	shiawase na	Happy
懐かしい	なつかしい	natsukashii	Nostalgic

Japanese Adjectives For Negative Feelings

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
	ひどい	hidoi	Cruel
悲しい	かなしい	kanashii	Sad
寂しい	さびしい｀	sabishii	Lonely
	つらい	tsurai	Painful, bitter
羨ましい	うらやましい	urayamashii	Jealous, envious
嫌いな	きらいな	kirai na	Hate
心配な	しんぱいな	sinpai na	Worry
失礼な	しつれいな	shitsurei na	Mean, impolite
痛い	いたい	itai	Hurt

What’s Next After Learning Japanese Adjectives?

A hundred adjectives might seem overwhelming at first, but with practice, you’ll be able to use them effortlessly in conversations. We like to remind our students to never treat い-adjectives and な-adjectives the same way (there’s no such thing as genkikunai!). While memorizing these Japanese adjectives, be sure to always note their classifications.

Now that you’ve learned how to describe a noun, what happens if you want to describe a verb? An adjective? Or even the whole sentence? How do you transform an adjective into an adverb in Japanese? Make your conversation more interesting and descriptive by taking a look at our guide to the top basic Japanese adverbs you need to know.

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