Japanese な-Adjectives for Beginners

Adjectives are split into two groups, い adjectives and な adjectives. This article tackles な adjectives. If you would like to learn about い adjectives, please click here.

The な adjectives pretty much act as nouns. However, instead of modifying another noun with a の (see below for an example of a noun modifying another), な adjectives modify a noun with a な.

となりの犬(いぬ)

the dog next door; next door’s dog

An example of a な adjective is げんき (healthy, vigorous, energetic…)

元気(げんき)な　犬(いぬ)

an energetic dog

• You only use the な ending when placed before nouns. Therefore, some words will simply have to be memorized as な adjectives. Some even end in い, such as きれい (pretty, beautiful), even though these are not い adjectives.
• Many な adjectives are usually made of two kanji. For example:

きれい is 綺麗(きれい)

すてき is 素敵(すてき)

• Whereas い adjectives are usually made of one kanji plus at least one hiragana and end in the hiragana い. This isn’t always true, but it is a good rule of thumb.

SENTENCE #1: non-past lone adjective

あなたは　きれい　です。

You are beautiful.

Here the adjective きれい (beautiful) is used by itself (not modifying a noun or anything). It doesn’t change at all.

Easy enough! But let’s add a noun…

SENTENCE #2: non-past modifying adjective

あなたは　きれいな人(ひと)　です。

You are a beautiful person.

Now, the adjective きれい is modifying a noun 人(ひと) (person). Therefore the な is added.

For な adjectives, the only change is to add or take away the な. Let’s go negative…

SENTENCE #3: non-past negative

わたしは　きれい　では　ありません。

I am NOT beautiful.

Notice the な adjective doesn’t change. With い adjectives, the adjective changes and not the verb [あなたはかわいくないです。 You are not cute.]

SENTENCE #4: past

あなたは　きれい　でした。

You were beautiful.

Again nothing changes but the verb. な adjectives act very much like nouns.

Easy! Just remember the な is added before nouns → きれいな猫(ねこ) — beautiful cat

SENTENCE #5: past negative

あなたは　きれい　では　ありません　でした。

You were not beautiful.

Once again we simply treat the な adjective as a noun and only the verb changes. The familiar form would be あなたはきれいじゃなかった。

*** I SUGGEST MEMORIZING A FEW GOOD ONE-WORD EXAMPLES. THE FOLLOWING ARE USED JUST AS THEY ARE VERY OFTEN IN JAPANESE:

な adjectives modify a noun with a な.

Here is a list of common beginner-level な adjectives with readings. Click the “Download Worksheet” image to, well, download a worksheet on the following vocabulary words.

げんき（元気(げんき)）— healthy; feeling fine

すき（好(す)き）— like

ゆうめい（有名(ゆうめい)）— famous

しずか（静(しず)か）— silent; quiet

きれい（綺麗(きれい)）— beautiful; clean; tidy

おなじ（同(おな)じ）— the same; alike

いろいろ（色々(いろいろ)）— various; several

けっこう（結構(けっこう)）— quite; fairly; well; good; fine

じょうず（上手(じょうず)）— skill; proficiency

じょうぶ（丈夫(じょうぶ)）— healthy; strong

たいせつ（大切(たいせつ)）— important

だいじょうぶ（大丈夫(だいじょうぶ)）— safe; all right; OK

だいすき（大好(だいす)き）— like (a lot); love

にぎやか（賑(にぎ)やか）— busy; bustling

ひま（暇(ひま)）— free time

へた（下手(へた)）— unskilled

べんり（便利(べんり)）— convenience; convenient

りっぱ（立派(りっぱ)）— fine; handsome; splendid

たいへん（大変(たいへん)）— very; greatly; serious; hard

まっすぐ（真直(まっす)ぐ）— straight; direct; upright

その本(ほん)が好(す)きです。

I like that book.

本(ほん) — book　・　好(す)き — like