Conjugating Adjectives

Unlike English, Japanese conjugates adjectives. Japanese congujation also mirrors the society's class driven structure. If someone is above or below you in station (or life), you speak to them using different verb forms.

Adjectives are separated into 2 categories, いadjectives and なadjectives

いadjectives are typically defined as "Any adjective that ends with the character 'い'." This is not entirely true, though. The word must end with the character "い" but it must also be prounced "ee" (i.e. かわいい, さむい).

If you've learned about the syllabaries, then you know that an い that follows an え is pronounced え (i.e. ゆうめい, きれい). These are なadjectives.

なadjectives are any adjective that is NOT an い adjective (i.e. しずか, げんき).

な Adjectives

Formal Forms

If someone is your boss, a year (or more) older, been at a job longer, or you just wanna be polite, you speak to them using the polite (also called formal) form.

	Positive	Negative
Present	~です	~ではありません
Past	~でした	~ではありませんでした

~です form is the present positive form.
  しずかです
  It is quiet.

~ではありません is the present negative form.
  しずかではありません
  It is not quiet.

~でした is the past positive form.
  しずかでした
  It was quiet.

~ではありませんでした is the past negative form.
  しずかではありませんでした
  It was not quiet.

Informal Forms

The Informal Forms are for addressing people close to you, like friends, or people below you in station, like a work subordinate. These forms consist of ~だ, ~ではない, ~だった, ~ではなかった

	Positive	Negative
Present	~だ	~ではない
Past	~だった	~ではなかった

~だ form is the present positive form.
  にぎやかだ
  It is lively.

~ではない is the present negative form.
  にぎやかではない
  It is not lively.

~だった is the past positive form.
  にぎやかだった
  It was lively.

~ではなかった is the past negative form.
  にぎやかではなかった
  It was not lively.

い Adjectives

Formal Forms

If someone is your boss, a year (or more) older, been at a job longer, or you just wanna be polite, you speak to them using the polite (also called formal) form.

	Positive	Negative
Present	~です	~ありません
Past	~かったです	~ありませんでした

~です form is the present positive form.
  とおいです
  It is far.

~ありません is the present negative form.
とおい - い + くありません
  とおくありません
  It is not far.

~かったです is the past positive form.
とおい - い + かったです
  とおくかったです
  It was far.

~ありませんでした is the past negative form.
とおい - い + くありませんでした
  とおくありませんでした
  It was not far.

~です has 1 other form: "~ isn't it?"

 です - す + しょう = でしょう
 ~でしょう means "~ isn't it?"
   とおいでしょう　
   It's far, isn't it?.

Informal Forms

The Informal Forms are for addressing people close to you, like friends, or people below you in station, like a work subordinate. These forms consist of Plain, ~ない, ~かった, ~なかった

	Positive	Negative
Present	~Plain	~ない
Past	~かった	~なかった

Plain form is the present positive form.
  むずかしい
  It is difficult.

~ない is the present negative form.
むずかしい - い + くない
  むずかしくない
  It is not difficult.

~だった is the past positive form.
むずかしい - い + かった
  むずかしかった
  It was difficult.

~なかった is the past negative form.
むずかしい - い + くなかった
  むずかしくなかった
  It was not difficult.