Complete Japanese Adjective Guide. Ann Tarumoto
the -te form for each English adjective below.
1. hot ____________________
2. interesting ____________________
3. new ____________________
4. late ____________________
5. delicious ____________________
6. small ____________________
7. bad ____________________
8. far ____________________
9. warm ____________________
10. beautiful* ____________________
11. inexpensive ____________________
12. busy ____________________
In order to make a sentence with linked adjectives—for example, it is cold and delicious—you would change the first adjective to the -te form and add your second adjective:
| It is cold | = | Tsumetai desu. (-te form = tsumetakute) |
| delicious | = | oishii desu |
The complete sentence would be: Tsumetakute oishii desu.
Note that the word and is not expressed directly in Japanese. The concept of and when linking two or more adjectives is included in the -te form of the adjective.
Depending on the situation, the -te form can also show the reason for the second clause.
| Example: | Furukute warui desu. = It is old and bad. Or, It is old [and so] it is bad. |
Link the following sentences together using the -te form of the adjective. It is not necessary to repeat the subject if it is the same for both adjectives. See if you can tell whether the -te form simply means and or and so or either depending on context.
| Example: | Sono sushi wa yasui desu. Sono sushi wa oishii desu. Ans: Sono sushi wa yasukute oishii desu. |
1. Kore wa atarashii desu.
Kore wa ii desu.
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2. Kono koohii wa atsui desu.
Kono koohii wa oishii desu.
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3. Kono resutoran wa takakatta desu.
Kono resutoran wa mazukatta desu.
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4. Ano inu wa chiisai desu.
Ano inu wa kawaii* desu.
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5. Kono kuruma wa furui desu.
Kono kuruma wa yoku arimasen.
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6. Kono niku wa yasui desu.
Kono niku wa atarashii desu.
Kono niku wa oishii desu.
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Use of the -te form does not necessarily mean that the last predicate of the sentence must be an adjective. The sentence may be completed with a verb, the copula (desu or one of its forms) or an adjective.
| Example: | Oishikute takusan tabemashita. | = | It was delicious so I ate a lot. |
Translate the following sentences:
1. Sushi ga oishikute, takusan (a lot) tabemashita.
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2. Kinoo wa isogashikute taihen deshita.
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3. Ano inu wa ookikute takusan tabemasu.
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4. Ano eiga wa omoshirokute, nido (twice) mimashita.
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5. Kono kooen wa tanoshikute, mainichi kimasu.
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Write these sentences in Japanese:
1. The water is cold and delicious.
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2. The computer is old and so is not good.
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3. That restaurant is inexpensive and good.
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4. (My) eyes are red and hurt*.
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5. The teacher is young and beautiful.
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6. That pizza was good so I ate it everyday.
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7. It’s big and blue*.
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8. It’s unusual* and interesting.
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9. The watch is small and expensive.
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10. It’s old and so it doesn’t taste good.
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11. The bus is slow and dirty*.
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12. The cat is small and cute*.
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12. The -te Form of Negative Adjectives
What if you wanted to say, It’s not bad and it’s inexpensive. In other words, you are describing it as having two characteristics, not bad and inexpensive. To express this idea, you could say, Yasukute waruku nai desu, or you could use the negative -te form of warui, waruku nakute yasui desu.
To make the -te form of a negative adjective: first make the negative plain form, then drop the i from nai and add -kute.
Example: atsui > atsuku nai > atsuku nakute
The negative -te form, like the -te form we have just studied, has no tense. The tense of the sentence is determined by the last inflected expression.
Try doing this exercise with the adjectives indicated:
Neg. short form Neg. -te form
1. ookii _____________________
2. mazui _____________________
3. tooi _____________________
4. urusai* _____________________
5. atatakai _____________________
6. aoi* _____________________
7. isogashii _____________________
8. kuroi* _____________________
9. sabishii* _____________________
10. samui _____________________
11. chikai _____________________
12. kawaii* _____________________
13. ii _____________________
14. yasashii _____________________
15. suzushii _____________________
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