So I am leaning the difference between な and い adjectives. I learned there are hints to indentify which adjectives are which. The one thing I do not understand is how to use them in sentences?
1. To modify nouns. い-adj are placed directly before the noun while な-adj take な in between themselves and the noun. E.g. 青い空、大切な人
2. To predicate a sentence. In plain/casual form sentences, い-adjectives predicate a sentence directly while な-adj take the copula だ. E.g. 空が青い、あの人が大切だ.
Well there’s a lot of conjugations and grammar rules that change depending on if you’re using an i or na adjective. But on the most basic level, you can say one before a noun to describe the noun. For example かわいいねこ (cute cat), or きれいなひと (beautiful/clean person). Or you could use it at the end of a sentence, like このたべものがあついです (this food is hot).
Of course, there’s past tenses and negatives, but I feel like this is what you’re trying to figure out first, right?
きれい is a な adjective and needs a な to describe a noun きれいな花です
うつくしい is an い adjective and can be used as it is to describe a noun
うつくしい花です
Others have covered the basics. Some more potentially interesting info for you…
All い adjectives end with the い kana (in dictionary form). They can conjugate to show tense (technically they are 用言 (ようげん) – declinable words).
な adjectives, as you typically see them defined in the dictionary, do not conjugate. They often **don’t** end in い (although some do). They are noun like objects (technically they are 体言 (たいげん) – indeclinable nominals). To turn them into usable adjectives you need to add a copula. When you do so, the na-adjective + copula becomes a single unit – a 用言 and can then be conjugated (by conjugating the copula). When used as a predicate, the usual form of the copula is used – i.e. だ. When used to describe a noun, the だ is turned into its connective form な.
Watch this video by Japanse Ammo with Misa, i literally owe her most of my basic/intermediate knowledge. Her videos eased my way through the basics like no other resource.
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All adjectives are used in two basic ways:
1. To modify nouns. い-adj are placed directly before the noun while な-adj take な in between themselves and the noun. E.g. 青い空、大切な人
2. To predicate a sentence. In plain/casual form sentences, い-adjectives predicate a sentence directly while な-adj take the copula だ. E.g. 空が青い、あの人が大切だ.
Well there’s a lot of conjugations and grammar rules that change depending on if you’re using an i or na adjective. But on the most basic level, you can say one before a noun to describe the noun. For example かわいいねこ (cute cat), or きれいなひと (beautiful/clean person). Or you could use it at the end of a sentence, like このたべものがあついです (this food is hot).
Of course, there’s past tenses and negatives, but I feel like this is what you’re trying to figure out first, right?
きれい is a な adjective and needs a な to describe a noun きれいな花です
うつくしい is an い adjective and can be used as it is to describe a noun
うつくしい花です
Others have covered the basics. Some more potentially interesting info for you…
All い adjectives end with the い kana (in dictionary form). They can conjugate to show tense (technically they are 用言 (ようげん) – declinable words).
な adjectives, as you typically see them defined in the dictionary, do not conjugate. They often **don’t** end in い (although some do). They are noun like objects (technically they are 体言 (たいげん) – indeclinable nominals). To turn them into usable adjectives you need to add a copula. When you do so, the na-adjective + copula becomes a single unit – a 用言 and can then be conjugated (by conjugating the copula). When used as a predicate, the usual form of the copula is used – i.e. だ. When used to describe a noun, the だ is turned into its connective form な.
Watch this video by Japanse Ammo with Misa, i literally owe her most of my basic/intermediate knowledge. Her videos eased my way through the basics like no other resource.
https://youtu.be/pqkEblIwSoA