Some weeks ago we started learning colors and あか means Red and if i add い it turns into an adjective. The same goes for 黒 and しろ does all adjectives work like that?
Sorry if i used wrong Kanji my autocorrect forced me to use those
No, it’s mainly the colors that work that way, and even then it’s only the basic ones.
Other i-adjectives will change endings, tho, such as *tsuyoi* (strong) swapping the ending out to become *tsuyoku* (strongly) or *tsuyosa* (strength)
You need to take a look at いけいよし and なけいよし. That should help explain it. Basicly some adjectives end with い others that don’t you and a な when using them before a noun.
Colours seem to be unique in that you take away the い. So saying the work tall or expensive is still たかい when using with or without a noun.
There are plenty of colours where this isn’t the case. eg:
* 紫の枕 – purple pillow * ピンクの花 – pink flower * 茶色の犬 – brown dog * 黄色の帽子 – yellow hat
This is because these aforementioned colours are not adjectives but **nouns**.
Maikel’s answer delved into this slightly, but the general rule with i-advectives (besides some colors as mentioned) is that you remove the -i at the end and swap it with -sa and that turns an i-adjective into a noun. For example, “fukai” = deep, “fukasa” = depth, “kibishii” = strict/severe, “kibishisa” = strictness/severity, “mezurashii” = rare, “mezurashisa” = rarity, “sugoi” = amazing, “sugosa” = amazingness, etc.
Even shiro technically does that. “shiro” = white (n), “shiroi” = white (adj), “shirosa” = whiteness (n).
Just know that a few adjectives dealing with feelings use -mi more commonly than -sa. So “tanoshii” = enjoy. If you hear “tanoshimi” = enjoyment (or “looking forward to it”), more than “tanoshisa”, then that’s other option is being used. Similarly, “kanashii” = sad. “kanashimi” = sadness (and so is “kanashisa”, but you will hear “kanashimi” more).
The -mi in both cases comes from another trick, which is that if you take the pre-masu form of a verb, it can be used as a noun. “Tanoshimu” and “kanashimu” are verbs, so the route of “tanoshimimasu -> tanoshimi” and “kanashimimasu -> kanashimu” are used more often in those cases. But I would use this idea more when learning nouns further this way rather than changing them willy-nilly on the fly, because if you say “hanashi” (noun for “talk”) based on “hanashimasu” (verb for talk/speak), then that works, but using “ii” (from “iimasu”, which is a verb for “say”), that doesn’t work (and sounds like the adjective “ii”, meaning “good”, so “iu koto” is what your need to use to turn “iu” into a noun.
It can be complicated, and not all words sound natural when undergoing those changes, but basically:
An i-adjective with a -sa instead of an -i becomes a noun.
A pre-masu form of a verb also becomes a noun (although plain verb plus “koto”…and even plain verb plus “no”…are more universal ways to do that directly).
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No, it’s mainly the colors that work that way, and even then it’s only the basic ones.
Other i-adjectives will change endings, tho, such as *tsuyoi* (strong) swapping the ending out to become *tsuyoku* (strongly) or *tsuyosa* (strength)
You need to take a look at いけいよし and なけいよし. That should help explain it. Basicly some adjectives end with い others that don’t you and a な when using them before a noun.
Colours seem to be unique in that you take away the い. So saying the work tall or expensive is still たかい when using with or without a noun.
There are plenty of colours where this isn’t the case. eg:
* 紫 – murasaki – purple
* ピンク – pinku – pink
* 茶色 – chairo – brown
* 黄色 – kiiro – yellow
In which case, you would use の, eg:
* 紫の枕 – purple pillow
* ピンクの花 – pink flower
* 茶色の犬 – brown dog
* 黄色の帽子 – yellow hat
This is because these aforementioned colours are not adjectives but **nouns**.
Maikel’s answer delved into this slightly, but the general rule with i-advectives (besides some colors as mentioned) is that you remove the -i at the end and swap it with -sa and that turns an i-adjective into a noun. For example, “fukai” = deep, “fukasa” = depth, “kibishii” = strict/severe, “kibishisa” = strictness/severity, “mezurashii” = rare, “mezurashisa” = rarity, “sugoi” = amazing, “sugosa” = amazingness, etc.
Even shiro technically does that. “shiro” = white (n), “shiroi” = white (adj), “shirosa” = whiteness (n).
Just know that a few adjectives dealing with feelings use -mi more commonly than -sa. So “tanoshii” = enjoy. If you hear “tanoshimi” = enjoyment (or “looking forward to it”), more than “tanoshisa”, then that’s other option is being used. Similarly, “kanashii” = sad. “kanashimi” = sadness (and so is “kanashisa”, but you will hear “kanashimi” more).
The -mi in both cases comes from another trick, which is that if you take the pre-masu form of a verb, it can be used as a noun. “Tanoshimu” and “kanashimu” are verbs, so the route of “tanoshimimasu -> tanoshimi” and “kanashimimasu -> kanashimu” are used more often in those cases. But I would use this idea more when learning nouns further this way rather than changing them willy-nilly on the fly, because if you say “hanashi” (noun for “talk”) based on “hanashimasu” (verb for talk/speak), then that works, but using “ii” (from “iimasu”, which is a verb for “say”), that doesn’t work (and sounds like the adjective “ii”, meaning “good”, so “iu koto” is what your need to use to turn “iu” into a noun.
It can be complicated, and not all words sound natural when undergoing those changes, but basically:
An i-adjective with a -sa instead of an -i becomes a noun.
A pre-masu form of a verb also becomes a noun (although plain verb plus “koto”…and even plain verb plus “no”…are more universal ways to do that directly).