Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 6: 3/13

な-Adjective + だ (Predicate)な-Adjective (Predicate)

Structure

［な］Adjective + (だ)

Examples:
静(しず)か + だ
元気(げんき) + だ

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Noun

  • Word Type

    Adjectival Noun

  • Register

    Standard

About な-Adjective だ

A predicate is a word that describes the topic/subject of a sentence. The Japanese equivalent of this is a 述語(じゅつご), which literally means 'statement word'. As a predicate, な-Adjectives can appear by themselves (when the word they are describing does not need to be stated), or they may be used at the end of a sentence.

It is important to remember that all な-Adjectives can also function as nouns, and therefore tend to sound more like a noun than an adjective, when used as a predicate.

When there are no other words apart from the adjective itself, it comes across similarly to 'It's pretty', or 'It's hated', and similar expressions in English. We just have to guess what the 'it' is from context.

Caution

Unlike い-Adjectives, な-Adjectives change form depending on where they are in the sentence. At the end of a sentence, they will always be followed by だ, or です (except in casual conversation where だ is omitted). However, when used before the word they are describing, they will always be followed by な. Hence the name な-Adjectives.

In many sentences, either は or が could be used to mark the word/words that the predicate is describing. Which one sounds more natural will depend on many factors. In general, if you are specifically pointing out something as being different from other things in the same category, が will be used.

In this example, が is distinguishing a specific station as having a unique level of dirtiness compared to others. は would sound unnatural in this type of sentence.

Fun Fact

Most な-Adjectives are words of foreign (Chinese/English) origin.

Related

Examples

--:--

    夜(よる)の海(うみ)は静(しず)かだ。
    夜(よる)の海(うみ)は静(しず)かです。

    The night sea is quiet.

    さいきさんは親切（しんせつ）だ。
    さいきさんは親切(しんせつ)です。

    Saiki is kind.

    彼(かれ)は静(しず)かだ。
    彼(かれ)は静(しず)かです。

    He is quiet.

    私(わたし)は暇(ひま)だ。
    私(わたし)は暇(ひま)です。

    I am free.

    海(うみ)が綺麗(きれい)だ。
    海(うみ)が綺麗(きれい)です。

    The sea is beautiful.

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      な-Adjective だ – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (3 in total)

      • wootau

        wootau

        Hello I am just learning this な adjective (predicate) now and there are two examples given in the lesson which I am not clear on:

        1. In the Details tab : 素敵 This なadjective was by itself and so where is the だ？

        2. In the Examples tab: the last example 今、暇か. Again, where is the だ at the end of the sentence?

        I thought だ or です is supposed to be used with the なadjective at the end of the sentence when it functions as a predicate.

        Any help I could get would be much appreciated.
        Thank you.

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        Hey there @wootau !

        When な- adjectives are used as a predicate, they can appear by itself when the word it is describing does not need to be stated. They can appear by itself because な- adjectives can function as a noun and sounds more like a noun than an adjective when used as a predicate. For Example, if something that is ‘wonderful’ was stated previously, or it is something obvious that can be seen by both the speaker and the listener, the speaker could just say すてき. This is what is happening in the second sentence you have provided. Instead of just ending the sentence with 暇, it uses the question marking particle か to emphasize the question.

        I hope this clears it up!

      • wootau

        wootau

        Hello Fuga-san,
        Thank you very much for your explanation. Just to make sure I understand, when the topic is obvious, it is grammatically correct if だ is not used with the な adjective. But if the topic is not obvious, だ /です is required. For example:

        トムは暇だ Tom is free now
        Or if I want to ask if Tom is free:
        トムは暇ですか or
        トムは暇だか

        I hope that I am making sense.
        Thank you.

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