Japanese Grammar Bank | How to Use Adjectives in Japanese

In this article we discuss how to use adjectives in Japanese? It’s an important one so get the page bookmarked and use it for your revision!

Do you realise the difference between a picture and a beautiful picture?

It feels different, right? Well, that’s the power of adjectives! Today, we are going to teach you how to use this power in Japanese!

Adjectives are words used to describe things. Using adjectives in a conversation will definitely make you sound more natural.

These adjectives will contribute to increase your Japanese language fluency.

In Japanese, there are two types of adjectives:

い形容詞 (ii-keiyoushi) and な形容詞 (na-keiyoushi)

Basically, these are the adjectives that either end with ii or na.

In this post, we are going to introduce you to many adjectives and how to use them.

How to use Adjectives in Japanese? | い形容詞 – ii adjectives

ii adjectives – Structure #1

It’s very easy to learn to use ii adjectives as it is very similar to the English way. You just have to attach the adjective before a noun.

Adjective + Noun + です.

For example:

Here, the adjective describes the noun perfectly and emphasises the feature of the book i.e., the book being old.

ii adjectives – Structure #2

Another sentence structure is to attach the adjective at the end of the sentence, before desu. You will understand the difference by looking at the example.

Noun + は + adjective + です.

For example:

Here, the topic marker particle は is used to stress the word ‘book’ giving more emphasis on book rather than it being old.

To help you remember, here are a few adjectives with their antonyms:

How to use Adjectives in Japanese? | な形容詞 – na adjectives

na adjectives – Structure #1

When you are attaching the word before a noun, you retain na at the end of then na adjective. Just like ii adjectives.

Adjective + Noun + です.

For example:

na adjectives – Structure #2

When you want to use the na adjective at the end of a sentence, you will have to keep in mind that you need to lose the na ending of the na adjective.

Noun + は + adjective (remove な) + です.

For example: 

Here is a list of some na adjectives:

How to use Adjectives in Japanese? | Exceptions

There are a few adjectives that you need to be cautious about.

These adjectives end with ii BUT they are na adjectives.

A bit confusing, right?

To remember these exceptions, you have to memorise them or practice sentences using these adjectives.

As they are na adjectives, the formation of sentences using these particles is similar to na adjectives.

Here’s some of these adjectives to be aware of:

How to use Adjectives in Japanese? | Foreign Adjectives

The Japanese language has included some foreign words into its vocabulary as adjectives. These foreign words, as we learned while learning the alphabets, are written in Katakana.

These foreign adjectives are considered na adjectives.

Few examples are:

Are you a Flexi Classes student already?

Learn more about Adjectives in Japanese in the following Flexi lessons:

Adjectives (A1, Chapter 2)
Misa’s Book (A1, Chapter 2)
Because It Is Old (A1, Chapter 3)

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This was an introduction on how to use adjectives in Japanese. Of course we can go a lot deeper but this is a good start for your Japanese adjectives adventure!

You’ll certainly encounter many adjectives along your learning journey, so make sure to come back to this lesson any time you have a doubt on the structures and their usages.

Here are a few more important lessons to nail down:

• Japanese particles
• Japanese counters
• Hiragana alphabet
• Katakana alphabet

If you’d ever fancy some Japanese classes, don’t forget about our Flexi Classes!

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