な-Adjectives
Describe people and things with な-adjectives.
Meeting New People
When you meet someone new, you often want to describe them or the things around you. You might want to say that a person is kind, or that a city is beautiful. In Japanese, we use a specific group of words called 'na-adjectives' to add these descriptive qualities to our sentences.
How to use な-Adjectives
Na-adjectives act like nouns in many ways. When you want to say something 'is' a certain way, you simply place the adjective before the copula 'desu'.
Tip
Examples in Action
Here is how to use these adjectives to describe people and places.
田中さんは親切です。
Tanaka-san is kind.
この町は静かです。
This town is quiet.
あの人は【ゆうめい】です。
Hint: The word for 'famous' is 'yuumei'.
That person is famous.
Nuance and Usage
Na-adjectives are very common in daily conversation. They are distinct from 'i-adjectives' (which end in 'i').
Na-adjective vs I-adjective
しんせつな人
Na-adjective (needs 'na')
kind person
おいしい食べ物
I-adjective (no 'na')
delicious food
Which sentence is grammatically correct?
- 彼は親切なです。
- ✓ 彼は親切です。
When the adjective is at the end of the sentence before 'desu', you do not add 'na'.
Deep Dive: Why 'na'?
You might wonder why they are called 'na-adjectives' if you don't use 'na' with 'desu'.
Summary
Na-adjectives allow you to describe the state of nouns. Remember: use them directly with 'desu' to describe something, and add 'na' only when connecting them to a noun that follows.