Complete Japanese Adjective Guide. Ann Tarumoto
plain form is a requirement before soo desu and does not mean that the sentence is informal.
Write the meaning of the following in Japanese. Do not translate subject pronouns such as I, she, he, they, it, etc.
1. I hear it’s hot.
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I hear it’s not hot.
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I hear it was hot.
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I hear it wasn’t hot.
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2. I understand that she’s busy.
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I understand that she was busy.
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I understand that she wasn’t busy.
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I understand that she isn’t busy.
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3. It’s my understanding that it’s new.
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It’s my understanding that it wasn’t new.
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It’s my understanding that it’s not new.
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It’s my understanding that it was new.
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4. I heard that it’s expensive.
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I heard that it’s not expensive.
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I heard that it wasn’t expensive.
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I heard that it was expensive.
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5. I understand that it wasn’t good.
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I understand that it’s not good.
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I understand that it was good.
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I understand that it is good.
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What do you think these sentences mean?
1. Ano resutoran wa totemo oishii soo desu.
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2. Sono zasshi wa zenzen omoshiroku nakatta soo desu.
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3. Shiken wa totemo muzukashii soo desu.
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4. Ano kutsu wa anmari yoku nai soo desu.
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5. Tenki wa ii soo desu.
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6. Eiga no kippu wa yasukatta soo desu.
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Now it’s your turn to try your hand at making sentences with soo desu.
1. I understand that she’s very busy today.
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2. My understanding is that it will cost a lot.
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3. I heard that the tickets weren’t cheap.
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4. I heard that Japan isn’t very hot.
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5. I hear that her house isn’t very big.
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6. I heard that the test wasn’t difficult at all.
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7. I understand that the vegetables aren’t very fresh.
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8. I heard that the car was old.
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9. I heard that it was a lot of fun.
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10. I hear that the train isn’t very fast.
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10. The -ku Form of the Adjective
When an adjective in Japanese is used to describe the way an action is done, the adjective must be changed to its -ku form. In other words, the -ku form is the adverb form of the adjective. This form is already familiar to you in the negative form of adjectives. Here, let’s look at other ways in which the -ku form is used.
The -ku form or adverb form of an adjective is made by dropping the last i from the dictionary form and adding -ku. Thus, atsui becomes atsuku. The only exception to this is the adjective ii which is always inflected from yoi. The adverb form of ii is yoku. (The adverb yoku, by the way, can mean well, often, a great deal.)
Write the -ku form of the following adjectives:
1. atsui _____________________
2. omoshiroi _____________________
3. kibishii* _____________________
4. amai _____________________
5. hayai _____________________
6. isogashii _____________________
7. tanoshii _____________________
8. akai* _____________________
9. mazushii* _____________________
10. tooi _____________________
11. ookii _____________________
12. yasui _____________________
13. ii _____________________
14. chikai _____________________
15. suzushii _____________________
16. yasashii _____________________
17. karai _____________________
18. oishii _____________________
19. atarashii _____________________
20. warui _____________________
The word narimashita is the past tense of the verb narimasu, meaning become. In colloquial English, we sometimes use the word get for narimasu or got for narimashita as in It got (became) hot. In Japanese we would say atsuku narimashita. The -ku form of the adjective is used, as it describes how something became.
Write the following sentences using the -ku form of the appropriate adjectives with either narimasu or narimashita depending on the tense of the English sentence. Keep in mind that narimasu is used for both present and future situations.
1.