Structure Legend
Structure
おおきい, おいしい, はやい
Details
Part of Speech
Adjective
Word Type
Independent Word
Register
Standard
品詞
形容詞
単語の種類
自立語
使用域
一般
About い-Adjectives
In Japanese い-Adjectives are known as 'form containing words', and are used to describe nouns. All い-Adjectives end in い in their base form.
- 温い水。Lukewarm water.
- 狭い道。Narrow road.
- バナナも嫌い。I also don't like bananas.
- 水はきれい。The water is clear.
Caution
Unlike な-Adjectives, い-Adjectives must never be followed by だ. This is due to だ only being able to conjugate with nouns (which な-Adjectives originally are). Instead, です is used with い-Adjectives to make them sound more polite.- 日本の道は、狭いです。Japan's roads are narrow.
- 温泉の風呂は熱いです。The onsen's baths are hot.
Fun Fact
Although using です with い-Adjectives is very common, it is actually incorrect Japanese. As です is simply a polite variation of だ, it follows all of the same conjugation rules as だ. This means that it should only be attached to nouns and な-Adjectives. However, as most Japanese natives do not know this rule, it is widely considered natural to use.Synonyms
Examples
暑いです。
It is hot.
今日は暑いです。
It is hot today.
寒いです。
It is cold.
これは楽しいです。
This is fun.
新しい車。
A new car.
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List of N5 いAdjectives
NihongoIchiban
The origin of いadjectives
BriefJapanese
The i-adjective
Tae Kim
い and な Adjectives
Japanese Ammo
Offline
Genki I
Page 100
みんなの日本語 I
Page 56 [CH 8]
[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Page 6
Genki I 2nd Edition
Page 132
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 40
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い-Adjectives – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (37 in total)
Motifier
About 2 months ago
It was provided before and they’ve said that theyll be fixing it asap, no idea what that time frame is though… - い-Adjective No longer show the word to right? - #2 by Asher
mietolim
About 2 months ago
Thank you for providing the info!
Guguru-san
About 25 days ago
I’m a little confused about the example phrase 新しい車。 Wouldn’t either -い or -た have to go at the end to make it a correct sentence? I’m thinking either 新しい車だ or 車は新しい。Any thoughts?
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