All About Adjectives

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There are two types of adjectives in Japanese: i-adjectives and na-adjectives. I-adjectives all end in "~ i," though they never end in "~ ei" (e.g. "kirei" is not an i-adjective.)

Japanese adjectives differ from their English counterparts. Although Japanese adjectives have functions to modify nouns like English adjectives, they also function as verbs when used as predicates. For example, "takai（高い）" in the sentence "takai kuruma （高い車）" means, "expensive". "Takai（高い）" of "kono kuruma wa takai （この車は高い）" means not just "expensive" but "is expensive". When i-adjectives are used as predicates, they may be followed by "~ desu（～です）" to indicate a formal style. "Takai desu （高いです）" also means, "is expensive" but it is more formal than "takai （高い）".

Here are lists of common i-adjectives and na-adjectives.

Common I-Adjectives

Common Na-Adjectives

We will learn how adjectives are used as modifiers and predicates on the next page!

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