So I’ve been learning Japanese solely from an app and have just been introduced to the 2 adjective types “i” and “na” adjectives. They described na adjectives as words ending in na but i quickly realised I mightve misunderstood when they used げんき as an example of a na adjective. Is a na adjective classified as anything which doesn’t end in an い?
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The best guide is what the dictionary tells you when you look the word up (if you are learning, I assume you will be doing this a lot). You will discover that some words that “end in” い are na-adjectives, such as きれい.
There’s lots more to say about this, but I don’t want to overload you with information.
A な adjective is an adjective that needs な when you put it in front of a noun.
げんきなこども An energetic child
きれいなへや A clean room
へんなやさい A weird vegetable
Generally, any adjective that doesn’t end in -ai, -ii, -oi, or -ui is a na adjective. (If it ends in -ei, it’s a na adjective. I can’t think of any exceptions to that…)
-i adjectives have that -i as an integral part of their formation. Akai, kurai, tsuyoi, etc. The -i is needed at all times, even when used with desu.
-na adjectives have that -na as an external affix to their formation. They exist as regular words, possibly even as nouns in some situations or verbs (with suru) in others. Genki, shizuka, karen, fukuzatsu, etc. The -na is not needed unless they are placed directly in front of a noun to modify.
There are times where it looks like an -i adjective but is not, with kirei being the most common example. The kanji for kirei are 綺麗, which includes the i within it (not as a suffix), but that’s not always obvious since the word’s normally written in hiragana due to the kanji being much too complicated for everyday writing.