Japanese Adjectives

Types of Adjectives

Japanese adjectives may be divided into two categories.

1) i-adjectives: end with i (Japanese in origin)

2)na-adjectives: end with na (mostly Chinese origin words)

Examples 

i-adjectives

Atarashii: 新しい：new

Isogashii: 忙しい：busy

Omoshiroi: 面白い：interesting

na-adjectives

Shizukana: quiet

Sukina: favorite

Benrina: convenient

Noun modifiers

When used as nouns modifiers, Japanese adjectives, like their English counterparts, precede the nouns they modify. Foreign words used as adjectives in Japanese become na-adjectives.

(a) Okii ie 大きい家　a big house

Kuroi kuruma: 黒い車　a black car

(b) kireina hana きれいな花　a pretty flower

modanna biru モダンなビル　a modern building

genkina hito 元気な人　a healthy person

yuniikuna aidia ユニークなアイディア　unique idea