Adjectives and comparison – Japanese N5 grammar
Meaning, explanation and example sentences with translations.
い形容詞 · an adjective ending in い
an inflecting adjective, ending in い
It inflects on its own, without help from です — and です is added purely for politeness and carries no tense. Before a noun it stands with no extra ending at all.
い-adjective + noun; as a predicate: adjective + です
Examples
- この本はおもしろいです。This book is interesting.です does not inflect the adjective, it only raises the register.
- 新しいかばんを買いました。I bought a new bag.Before a noun the adjective does not change its shape.
な形容詞 · an adjective that requires な
an adjective that adds な before a noun
It behaves more like a noun than like an adjective. Before the word it modifies it has to insert な, and as a predicate it inflects through です, exactly as a noun does.
adjective + な + noun; as a predicate: adjective + です
Examples
- ここは静かな町です。This is a quiet town.Without な the sentence would be ungrammatical.
- 彼女は親切な人です。She is a kind person.The same pattern: modifier + な + the noun modified.
〜くないです · is not so
negating a quality described by an i-adjective
The negation inflects the adjective itself, not です. The final い drops out and くない comes in — which is why いいです does not give いくないです but よくないです.
adjective without い + くないです
Examples
- この店は高くないです。This shop is not expensive.高い → 高くない. です stays unchanged.
- 今日はあまり寒くないです。It is not particularly cold today.あまり forms a fixed pattern with negation — see あまり〜ない in group 7.
〜かったです · was so
a quality placed in the past
The past tense is likewise written into the adjective itself. A common mistake is おもしろいでした — です does not turn into でした when an い-adjective is inflected.
adjective without い + かったです
Examples
- 昨日の試験はむずかしかったです。Yesterday’s exam was difficult.むずかしい → むずかしかった, not むずかしいでした.
- 旅行はとても楽しかったです。The trip was very enjoyable.The same inflection pattern.
〜くなる · becomes so
a shift into a new state, with no one named as its cause
Describes a passage from one state into another. It does not settle whether the change happened by itself or whether someone or something brought it about — it simply does not say who or what did it, and a cause may well exist. With な-adjectives and with nouns, に comes in instead of く.
い-adjective without い + くなる; な-adjective + になる
Examples
- 春になって、暖かくなりました。Spring came and it turned warm.A change of season is hard to attribute to anyone — but the form くなる itself does not settle that.
- 日本語が少しずつ易しくなりました。Japanese has gradually become easier.少しずつ stresses that the passage was gradual.
〜より · than…, more than…
marking which of two things comes out higher
Sets exactly two things side by side. The order matters: より stands next to the one that loses the comparison, not the winner — the opposite of English “than”, which follows the adjective.
A は B より + adjective
Examples
- 電車はバスより速いです。The train is faster than the bus.より stands next to the bus, that is, next to the slower one.
- 今日は昨日より暑いです。It is hotter today than yesterday.Two moments in time can be compared as well.
いちばん · the most…, the best of…
the superlative within a stated set
Japanese does not grade adjectives with an ending — it puts a separate word in front of them. The set the comparison is made within is marked by で or の中で.
set + で / の中で + いちばん + adjective
Examples
- クラスでいちばん背が高いです。He is the tallest in the class.The class is the set the comparison is drawn within.
- 四季の中で秋がいちばん好きです。Of all the seasons I like autumn best.With a countable set の中で is the more natural choice.
Where this comes from
Everything above comes from the free part of the Kaname app and has passed its content review.
- Kaname: Japanese GrammarJLPT practice: N5 N4 N3 N2 N1
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