![]() Modern な-adjectives in Japanese have several different origins. Beyond the Basics The Origin of な-adjectives This function is similar to the く form of い-adjectives, which also results in an adverb. ( Literally: The room was beautifully tidy.) ![]() ![]() You can use this to talk about the way flowers bloom. In the same way, if you combine 綺麗 (beautiful) with に, you can make 綺麗に (beautifully). When used as a noun, these words can take many roles in a sentence, including the subject or object.Ĭombined with the particle に, some な-adjectives can also be used as adverbs.įor example, if you combine 静か (quiet) and に, you can form 静かに (quietly) - an adverb that describes how an action or event happens quietly. These nouns refer to abstract concepts, like “safety” (安全), “peace” (平和), or “freedom” (自由). In addition to their ability to describe nouns, some な-adjectives can be used as nouns themselves (Hint: this is why な-adjectives are called “adjectival nouns” in linguistics). It could just as easily be used as the subject of the sentence, as in the next example: In this sentence, 安全な場所 is the object of the sentence - it’s what we’re looking for. These words joined together can be used anywhere that a noun can be used: な is what attaches the adjective to the noun, forming a short noun phrase. When a な-adjective is used directly before a noun, you need to use な directly after the adjective. We do something similar in English, when we replace a noun with a pronoun, like “these” in the example sentence. In this case, you’re assuming that the person you’re talking to will understand that you’re referring to cat videos, and not something else. Perhaps you’d utter this if you’re in a room full of people on their phones, oohing and awwing over a video of a cute kitten in a teacup. Lately, (these) are popular, aren’t they!.In this case, the な-adjective still describes the subject, you just have to figure out what that subject is. It’s very common in Japanese for the subject to be left out of the sentence if what you’re talking about is clear from context. In this sentence, the な-adjective 人気 (popular) comes at the end of the sentence, and it is describing the subject noun phrase, 猫のビデオ (cat video). Lately, cat videos are popular, aren’t they!.When a な-adjective comes at the end of a sentence (or more specifically, in the predicate of a clause), it describes the subject of the sentence. Some な-adjectives can function like a noun, and serve as the subject or object of a sentence. な-adjectives can do a little more than い-adjectives though. Just like い-adjectives, な-adjectives can be used in two positions to describe a noun: at the end of a sentence, and right before a noun. The Position of な-adjectives in a Sentence I’m not good at chess, but I’m not bad at it either.That teacher’s handwriting isn’t very neat, is it?.To do this, you can choose from a few different negative markers, such as じゃない and ではない. Making a な-adjective negative tells us that the quality described by the word is not true. In my parents’ day and age, disco was super popular.When I was a child, this town was quiet, but now it’s lively.This means that the quality was true before, but is no longer true at this point in time. When you want to indicate that the quality described by the な-adjective is in the past, you’ll use だった or でした to make it happen. In this case, present tense is assumed, even though there is no explicit marker of it, like だ or です: We can also choose to end a sentence with the な-adjective itself, which is common in casual spoken Japanese. If we’re talking about a weekday, the train will be more convenient than a car.This tells us that the quality described by the adjective is true now or in the future. Just like nouns, な-adjectives can take だ or です to indicate that they are in the present tense. This is a trait that な-adjectives share with nouns, and is one reason why they are often called “nominal (noun-like) adjectives” or “adjectival nouns” in linguistics. Unlike い-adjectives, な-adjectives cannot be conjugated to show tense-present or past-and truth value-positive or negative. な-adjectives earn their name from な, which is used to attach a な-adjective to a noun. For example, a famous person is 有名な人, a convenient tool is 便利なツール, and a safe place is 安全な場所. The main function of な-adjectives is to describe nouns. な-adjectives are one of two kinds of adjectives in Japanese (the other being い-adjectives). Treating な-adjectives like い-adjectives.The Position of な-adjectives in a Sentence.Their main function is to describe nouns, but many can function as nouns themselves. な-adjectives are one type of adjective in Japanese.
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