Translation guide
A guide to understanding and using i-adjectives in Japanese, which are adjectives that end in い and conjugate for tense and polarity.
The learner wants to know what an i-adjective is and how to use it in its basic form.
An i-adjective is a Japanese adjective that ends in い in its dictionary form. It can directly modify a noun or end a sentence. Examples: 高い (takai, 'high/expensive'), 楽しい (tanoshii, 'fun').
This book is expensive.
I watched a fun movie.
The learner wants to express the negative form of an i-adjective.
The learner wants to express the past tense of an i-adjective.
Replace the final い with かった to make the past tense. This is the standard past form for i-adjectives.
It was hot yesterday.
That movie was interesting.
The learner wants to express the negative past tense of an i-adjective.
Replace the final い with くなかった to make the negative past tense. This is the standard negative past form for i-adjectives.
It was not hot yesterday.
That movie was not interesting.
The learner wants to connect i-adjectives or use them in compound sentences.
Replace the final い with くて to make the te-form. This is used to connect adjectives or clauses.
This room is spacious and bright.
The price was high, so I couldn't buy it.
The learner wants to use an i-adjective as an adverb.
The learner wants to use i-adjectives in polite speech.
The learner wants to use an i-adjective to modify a noun.
I-adjectives end in い and conjugate directly. Na-adjectives require な when modifying nouns and use だ/です for endings. Some adjectives like きれい (pretty) end in い but are na-adjectives because the い is part of the kanji reading, not a suffix.
a pretty flower (na-adjective, not i-adjective)
The adjective いい (good) is irregular. Its conjugations use よい as the base: よくない (negative), よかった (past), よくて (te-form).
good weather → was good