i-adectives: past – katta-form

May 7, 2011 by 7 Comments

Japanese i-adjectives also can express situations in the past. Whereas in English you have to use “was” in front of the word, i-adjectives can build the past on its own. Remove the い (i) at the end of the plain form and add かった (katta) to the stem of the i-adjective as described in the following examples:

  • 高い => 高- => 高 + かった => 高かった
  • takai => taka- => taka + katta => takakatta
Plain Form Romaji Meaning Negation Romaji Meaning
高い takai high 高かった takakatta it was high
安い yasui cheap 安かった yasukatta it was cheap
美味しい oishii tasty 美味しかった oishikatta it was tasty
広い hiroi spacious 広かった hirokatta it was spacious
寂しい sabishii lonely 寂しかった sabishikatta it was lonely

Example

Kanji この話はあまり面白くなかったです。
Furigana このはなしはあまりおもしろくなかったです。
Romaji kono hanashi wa amari omoshirokunanakatta desu.
English This story was not very interesting.

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i-adectives: negation – kunai-form

May 3, 2011 by 1 Comment

Japanese i-adjectives also allow to express a negative meaning. It is close to adding un- to an English adjective (easy = un-easy, not easy). In order to build this form you first remove the い – I at the end of the plain form and  add くない – KUNAI to the stem of the i-adjective as described in the following examples:

  • 高い => 高- => 高 + くない => 高くない
  • takai => taka- => taka + kunai => takakunai
Plain Form Romaji Meaning Negation Romaji Meaning
高い takai high 高くない takakunai not high
安い yasui cheap 安くない yasukunai not cheap
美味しい oishii tasty 美味しくない oishikunai not tasty
広い hiroi spacious 広くない hirokunai not spacious
寂しい sabishii lonely 寂しくない sabishikunai not lonely

Example

Kanji 隣りのスーパーはあまり高くないです。
Furigana となりのスーパーはあまりたかくないです。
Romaji tonari no suupaa wa amari takakunai desu.
English The supermarket in the neighborhood is not very expensive.

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i-adjectives: the sou-form

April 23, 2011 by 3 Comments

The sou-form of an i-adjective expresses that something seems to be in a certain way. It translates into sentences such as it looks red (akasou).

It is very easy to build. Just replace the last “i” of the adjective with a “sou”. So 楽しい (tanoshii, enjoyable) becomes  楽しそう (tanoshisou). Here are a few more examples to make it clear.

Plain Form Romaji Meaning sa Form Romaji
楽しい tanoshii enjoyable 楽しそう tanoshisou
美しい utsukushii beautiful 美しそう utsukushisou
新しい atarashii new 新しそう atarashisou
赤い akai red 赤そう akasou
大きい ookii big 大きそう ookisou

Example sentences:

この料理はとても美味しそうです。

このりょうりはとてもおいしそうです。

kono ryouri wa totemo oishisou desu.

This dish looks very delicious.

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i-adjectives: the sa-form

April 22, 2011 by 3 Comments

The Japanese language is very flexible with adjectives. The sa-form allows to use an i-adjective as a noun or in other words to add ~ness to it (e.g. useful => usefulness, powerful => powerfulness, etc.)

It is very easy to build. Just replace “i” at the end of the word with a “sa”. So 楽しい (tanoshii, enjoyable) becomes joy as 楽しさ (tanoshisa). Here are a few more examples to make it clear.

Plain Form Romaji Meaning sa Form Romaji Meaning
楽しい tanoshii enjoyable 楽しさ tanoshisa joy
美しい utsukushii beautiful 美しさ utsukushisa beauty
新しい atarashii new 新しさ atarashisa newness
赤い akai red 赤さ akasa redness
大きい ookii big 大きさ ookisa size, dimensions

Example sentences:

日本のお寺の美しさが好きです。

nihon no otera no utsukushisa ga suki desu.

I like the beauty of Japanese temples.

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Expressing a position in Japanese

March 28, 2011 by 3 Comments

Description

In Japanese positions are expressed by putting position-noun behind the noun whose position is being described. Both nouns are connected using the particle の (no). In addition the Particles に (ni) or で (de) used behing the position-noun indicated that it is about a location.

The general structure of the description of a position is as follows:

[Noun] + の (no) + [position noun] + に (ni) or で (de)

Example

This example gives you an idea on how a sentence explaining a position looks like.

Position-nouns

Kanji Furigana Romaji Translation
上 うえ ue above, on, over
下 した shita under, below
前 まえ mae in front of
後ろ うしろ ushiro behind
右 みぎ migi right hand of
左 ひだり hidari left hand of
先 さき saki before
横 よこ yoko next to
隣り となり tonari next to
側 そば soba next to
中 なか naka inside
辺 へん hen around here
角 かど kado at the corner of
隅 すみ sumi in the corner of
奥 おく oku inside the building
外 そと soto outside
内 うち uchi
間 あいだ aida in between
近く ちかく chikaku close to, near to
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