Complete Japanese Adjective Guide. Ann Tarumoto
ga ii desu. = The radio is good. / The radio will be good.
How would you say these sentences more politely?
| 1. | Sono rajio wa ii._________________________________________ |
| 2. | Ano biiru wa oishii._________________________________________ |
| 3. | Gakkoo wa chikai._________________________________________ |
| 4. | Kyoo wa isogashii._________________________________________ |
| 5. | Kono terebi wa ookii._________________________________________ |
| 6. | Ano sakana wa furui._________________________________________ |
| 7. | Ano sushi wa mazui._________________________________________ |
| 8. | Hikooki wa hayai._________________________________________ |
| 9. | Tempura wa yasui._________________________________________ |
| 10. | Sensei wa yasashii._________________________________________ |
Tell your teacher (politely) that:
| 1. | It is hot. _____________________ |
| 2. | You are busy. _____________________ |
| 3. | It is difficult. _____________________ |
| 4. | It is cool. _____________________ |
| 5. | Japanese is easy. _____________________ |
Tell a good friend (no need to be polite!) that:
| 1. | It is warm. _____________________ |
| 2. | The coffee is hot. _____________________ |
| 3. | The car is new. _____________________ |
| 4. | The restaurant is expensive. _____________________ |
| 5. | The vegetables are fresh. _____________________ |
Fill in the missing syllables in these adjectives:
| 1. | to__i |
| 2. | chii__I |
| 3. | __okii |
| 4. | ya__shii |
| 5. | ta__i |
| 6. | __zukashii |
| 7. | ya__i |
| 8. | ta__shii |
| 9. | a__i |
| 10. | i__gashii |
| 11. | chi__sai |
| 12. | fu__i |
| 13. | ata__kai |
| 14. | __tsui |
| 15. | a__rashii |
| 16. | __i |
| 17. | ka__i |
| 18. | __yai |
| 19. | ma__i |
| 20. | __ishii |
Adjectives in a Negative Predicate (Non-Past)
When you want to express a sentence such as, “The dog is not big,” the adjective in Japanese appears in the predicate of the sentence. It is also in its negative form. To inflect an adjective to its negative form in the non-past tense, drop the last i and add -ku arimasen.
Example: Samui desu. (It is cold.) > Samuku arimasen. (It is not cold.)
Samuku arimasen is the most formal way of expressing the idea, It is not cold.
The only exception to this rule is ii (good). Remember that ii is inflected from yoi. Therefore, ii desu means it is good while yoku arimasen means it is not good.
Inflect these adjectives to their formal, negative, non-past forms:
| 1. | atarashii desu _____________________ |
| 2. | ii desu _____________________ |
| 3. | isogashii desu _____________________ |
| 4. | furui desu _____________________ |
| 5. | hayai desu _____________________ |
| 6. | amai desu _____________________ |
| 7. | tanoshii desu _____________________ |
| 8. | omoshiroi desu _____________________ |
| 9. | takai desu _____________________ |
| 10. | yasui desu _____________________ |
| 11. | muzukashii desu _____________________ |
| 12. | ookii desu _____________________ |
| 13. | tooi desu _____________________ |
| 14. | warui desu _____________________ |
| 15. | mazui desu _____________________ |
Answer no to all these questions using the negative form of the adjective:
| 1. | Ano inu wa ookii desu ka?Iie._____________________________________ |
| 2. | Daigaku wa chikai desu ka?Iie._____________________________________ |
| 3. | Kono hon wa omoshiroi desu ka?Iie._____________________________________ |
| 4. | Nihongo wa muzukashii desu ka?Iie._____________________________________ |
| 5. | Kuruma wa atarashii desu ka?Iie._____________________________________ |
| 6. | Ano sensei wa ii desu ka?Iie._____________________________________ |
| 7. | Sushi wa mazui desu ka?Iie._____________________________________ |
| 8. | Kyoo wa atsui desu ka?Iie._____________________________________ |
| 9. | Juusu wa tsumetai desu ka?Iie._____________________________________ |
| 10. | Karee raisu wa karai desu ka?Iie._____________________________________ |
Compose the following sentences using the negative, formal non-past form of the appropriate adjective. Keep in mind that subject pronouns such as I, you, he, she, it, and they need not be translated in Japanese. Although there is no word for the in Japanese, you may use the word sono where the appears.
| 1. | It is not hot. _____________________ |
| 2. | He is not busy. _____________________ |
| 3. | The coffee is not cold. _____________________ |
| 4. | The car is not new. _____________________ |
| 5. | The juice is not sweet. _____________________ |
| 6. | The tempura is not good. _____________________ |
| 7. | The magazine is not good. _____________________ |
| 8. | The vegetables are not fresh. _____________________ |
| 9. | The problem is not difficult. _____________________ |
| 10. | The school is not far. _____________________ |
| 11. | The dog is not large. _____________________ |
| 12. | The movie is not interesting. _____________________ |
Negative Adjectives in the Predicate: The Plain Form
We have been working with the formal forms of adjectives in the non-past. It is also possible to express the same ideas using the plain or informal, negative form of adjectives. This “friendly” way of speaking comes from replacing arimasen with nai.
Example: Samuku arimasen. > Samuku nai.
Both these sentences mean “It is not cold.” Samuku nai is merely a more friendly or direct way of expressing this idea.
Give the plain form of the following formal sentences and explain what they mean:
| 1. | Omoshiroku arimasen._________________________________________ |
| 2. | Kore wa atarashiku arimasen._________________________________________ |
| 3. | Kono zasshi wa waruku arimasen._________________________________________ |
| 4. | Kono koohii wa atsuku arimasen._________________________________________ |
| 5. | Ano kuruma wa furuku arimasen._________________________________________ |
Write the plain negative forms of the following sentences:
| 1. | Ano neko wa ookii._________________________________________ |
| 2. | Shiken wa muzukashii._________________________________________ |
| 3. | Uchi wa chiisai._________________________________________ |
| 4. | Kyoo wa suzushii._________________________________________ |
| 5. | Kono seetaa wa atatakai._________________________________________ |
| 6. | Fuyu wa samui._________________________________________ |
| 7. | Piza wa mazui._________________________________________ |
| 8. | Ano hon wa ii._________________________________________ |
| 9. | Nihon wa tooi._________________________________________ |
| 10. | Kyoo wa tanoshii._________________________________________ |
Compose these sentences using the plain negative form of the appropriate adjectives. Use sono for the.
| 1. | The soup is not hot._________________________________________ |
| 2. | The house is not big._________________________________________ |
| 3. | Today is not hot._________________________________________ |
| 4. | The magazine isn’t interesting._________________________________________ |
| 5. | The |