Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 6: 7/13

くなかった Was not, Wasn't (Adjective)

Structure

[い]Adjective[く]+ なかった

Examples:
おもしろ + なかった
(あたら) + なかった

Details

  • Adjective

  • Auxiliary Verb

  • Standard

About い-Adjective くなかった

In order to create the negative past form of い-Adjectives, we will need to use the conjugation form. The conjugation form of an い-Adjective is simply created by removing the い, and replacing it with く. く is then followed by ない (conjugated into its past form なかった), or あります (conjugated into its past negative form ありませんでした).

The polite negative (past) form requires use of the う - Verb, ある. This is not a unique rule for the negative past, but actually the correct way that all く-form conjugations of い-Adjectives should be constructed. However, in modern Japanese, it is not considered necessary. Instead, the semi-polite form is often used.

The semi-polite form is constructed by using なかった, and then simply adding です.

Examples

--:--

  • コーヒー(あつ)くなかったです

    The coffee was not hot.

  • それ(やす)くありませんでした

    That was not cheap.

  • (わたし)(いぬ)(つよ)くなかったです

    My dog was not strong.

  • (わたし)(あね)(いえ)(たか)くなかったです

    My (older) sister's house was not expensive.

  • 漫画(まんが)()のは(むずか)しくなかった

    Reading manga was not difficult.

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い-Adjective くなかった – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (6 in total)

  • Superpnut

    Superpnut

    Oh that makes a bunch of since thanks for saying it in simple terms so I can understand it

  • Kattosan

    Kattosan

    In example sentences,
    「漫画を読むのは難しくなかった」
    Shouldn’t it be 「難しく」instead of 「難かしく」?

  • Fuga

    Fuga

    Hey @Kattosan !

    We have just fixed this! Thank you for letting us know about this!

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