Complete Japanese Adjective Guide. Ann Tarumoto
It was quite bad. _____________________
17. It’s always good. _____________________
18. It’s not very old. _____________________
19. They’re quite new. _____________________
20. It’s not at all interesting. _____________________
21. It’s a little large. _____________________
22. It’s quite cold. _____________________
23. It was always expensive. _____________________
24. It was a little old. _____________________
25. I wasn’t busy at all. _____________________
There are many adverbs in Japanese other than the ones presented here. When you come across a new one, find out whether it can be used with only affirmative, only negative, or both types of sentences.
5. Other Adjectives
If you have completed all the exercises so far, you are probably an expert at changing adjectives to the negative present, the past tense and the negative past tense. The manner in which you have changed the adjectives listed so far in this workbook is the same for any adjective in Japanese. Following is a list of some other adjectives in Japanese. By following the rules you have mastered in the previous pages, you should be able to handle the exercises without any difficulty.
| abunai | = | dangerous |
| akai | = | red |
| aoi | = | blue |
| itai | = | painful |
| kawaii | = | cute (objects, people, animals) |
| kibishii | = | strict |
| kitanai | = | dirty |
| kowai | = | scary |
| kuroi | = | black |
| kuwashii | = | detailed |
| mazushii | = | poor (economic status) |
| mezurashii | = | unusual |
| mushiatsui | = | hot and humid |
| sabishii | = | lonely |
| shiroi | = | white |
| subarashii | = | fantastic |
| sugoi | = | awesome |
| tsuyoi | = | strong |
| ureshii | = | happy |
| urusai | = | noisy, annoying |
| utsukushii | = | beautiful |
| wakai | = | young |
Now, referring to the list above, see if you can figure out what the following sentences mean. Look up any new nouns in the glossary.
1. Watashi no Nihongo no sensei wa kibishii desu.
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2. Sugokatta!
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3. Kuruma wa akakatta desu.
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4. Tookyoo no natsu wa totemo mushiatsui desu.
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5. Haha wa wakaku arimasen.
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6. Setsumei wa zenzen kuwashiku nakatta.
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7. Ano inu wa kowaku arimasen.
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8. Kyoo no tenki wa subarashikatta desu.
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9. Heya wa anmari kitanaku nai.
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10. Atama wa itaku nakatta.
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11. Ano chiimu wa totemo tsuyoi desu.
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12. Kore wa mezurashii okashi desu ne.
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13. Sora wa aoi desu ka?
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14. Ano michi wa abunakatta.
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15. Kabe wa shiroku arimasen deshita.
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Answer no to these questions:
1. Kuruma wa kuroi desu ka?
Iie.______________________________________
2. Kinoo wa mushiatsukatta desu ka?
Iie.______________________________________
3. Nihon no o-cha wa mezurashii desu ka?
Iie.______________________________________
4. Atama wa itakatta desu ka?
Iie.______________________________________
5. Anata wa ima ureshii desu ka?
Iie.______________________________________
Try making your own sentences using the following words. Use as many of the forms studied as possible.
Example: kyoo—samui Kyoo wa samuku arimasen.
1. neko—kawaii
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2. tenki—warui
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3. kuruma—abunai
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4. keshiki—subarashii
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5. toire—kitanai
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Try changing these adjectives as indicated by the English sentence. Use the formal form.
1. It was very dirty. _____________________
2. I’m not happy. _____________________
3. He was cute. _____________________
4. I wasn’t lonely. _____________________
5. It’s not dangerous. _____________________
6. It was red. _____________________
Do the same for the following, but use the plain form:
1. Awesome! _____________________
2. It’s not unusual. _____________________
3. It wasn’t blue. _____________________
4. It was quite detailed. _____________________
5. She isn’t strict at all. _____________________
6. The Goldilocks Level and the Negative
As you learned previously, it is possible to form both formal and informal levels in both the past and non-past tenses in Japanese. However, in both the negative past and the negative non-past, it is possible to create an intermediate level between the formal and informal levels. I like to call this the Goldilocks level as it is neither too formal nor too informal. For most occasions, it is just right. This level is only applicable for adjectives in their negative form.
The Goldilocks level is simply gotten by adding the word desu to the plain form of the negative adjective. This is done in both the past and non-past tenses. In this use, the word desu is never changed to deshita in the past.
| Example: | atsuku nai becomes atsuku nai desu. atsuku nakatta becomes atsuku nakatta desu. |