-i and -na Adjectives in Japanese

The first type of adjective in Japanese is the – い adjective (-i adjective). These types of adjectives have an – い at the end of the word. For example: おいしい (oishii), which translates as delicious. Before using an – い adjective, we need to conjugate it to match the tense of the sentence. Let's go over the different conjugations of an – い adjective, using おいしい as an example:

Present Affirmative: おいしい です。(oishii desu)

It is delicious.

We can position the adjective in two ways. The first puts the adjective after the noun:

この すし は おいしい です。(kono sushi wa oishii desu)

This sushi is delicious.

We can also place the adjective in front of the noun:

おいしい すし です。(oishii sushi desu)

(It is) delicious sushi.

Present Negative: おいしくありません。(oishikuarimasen)

It is not delicious.

When we make an – い adjective negative, we drop the last い and add the ending くありません. For example:

この とんかつ は おいしくありません。(kono tonkatsu wa oishikuarimasen)

This tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) is not delicious.

Past Affirmative: おいしかった です。(oishikatta desu)

It was delicious.

To make an – い adjective past affirmative, we drop the last い and add the ending かった. For example:

この すし は おいしかった です。(kono sushi wa oishikatta desu)

This sushi was delicious.

Past Negative: おいしくありませんでした。(oishikuarimasendeshita)

It was not delicious.

The past negative form of an – い adjective follows the pattern of the present negative form, except くありません becomes くありませんでした. For example:

この とんかす は おいしくありませんでした。(kono tonkatsu wa oishikuarimasendeshita)

This tonkatsu was not delicious.

Not all – い adjectives follow the same pattern. The exception is いい (ii), which means good. Let's go over the conjugation:

Present Affirmative: いい です (ii desu)

It is good.

Present Negative: よくありません (yokuarimasen)

It is not good.

Past Affirmative: よかった です (yokatta desu)

It was good.

Past Negative: よくありませんでした (yokuarimasendeshita)

It was not good.

Note that when we conjugate いい, the stem changes to よく and then follows the regular pattern of conjugation.

The other group of Japanese adjectives is the -な adjectives. An example is げんき (な). Note that the actual adjective is げんき (genki), which means healthy or energetic; the な is added to connect the adjective and noun. For example:

げんき な おんあ の ひと。(genki na onna no hito)

The healthy woman.

When we use the long form of a -な adjective, the な is dropped. For example:

この おんあ の ひと は げんき です。(kono onna no hito wa genki desu)

This woman is healthy.

Let's go over the conjugation for -な adjectives:

Present Affirmative: げんき です (genki desu)

(It is) healthy.

わたし は げんき です。(watashi wa genki desu)

I am healthy.

Present Negative: げんきじゃありません (genkijaarimasen)

(It is) not healthy.

When we form the present negative form of a -な adjective, we add じゃありません. For example:

きょう は わたし の ともだち は げんきじゃありません。(kyou wa watashi no tomodachi wa genkijaarimasen)

Today my friend is not energetic.

Past Affirmative: げんき でした (genki deshita)

(It was) healthy.

When we form the past affirmative form of a -な adjective, です is changed into its past tense. For example:

きのう は わたし の ともだち は げんき でした。(kinou wa watashi no tomodachi wa genki deshita)

Yesterday my friend was energetic.

Past Negative: げんきじゃありませんでした (genkijaarimasendeshita)

(It was) not healthy.

To form the past negative form of a -な adjective, we use the past form of じゃありません. For example:

いぬ は げんきじゃありませんでした (inu wa genkijaarimasendeshita)

The dog was not healthy.