Adjectives

[SkaKid0911]

Hey guys. I'm learning adjectives and stuff now and I'm pretty confused. From what I understand there are two types of adjectives. -I and -NA. The -i adjectives just end in -i and the -na adjectives you add -na after it.

an -i adjective I know is samui (cold)
So to say cold food I think it would be: samui tabemono

a -na adjective is kirei (pretty, beautiful)
So to say a beautiful person I think it would be: kirei na hito

But what if they aren't modifying anything?
For example if I wanted to say "(it) is beautiful"
where the 'it' is known would I just say:
"kirei desu"?
Do I drop the na?

The same thing but saying
(it) is cold
where the 'it' is known. Would that just be:
"samui desu"?

Thanks.

[Kama]

Yes, exactly. It'd be 'Kirei desu' and 'Samui desu.'

For -na adjectives [quasi-adjectives] you only use -na when it's before noun (you are saying about object's characteristic) f.ex. Kore wa benrina isu - this is comfortable chair.

Ah! Samui is only atmosferic. Samui tenki... Tsumetai is cold in touch. F.ex. tsumetai te, tsumetai tabemono.

When benri is at the end of the sentence (before desu) you don't add -na. F.ex. Kono isu wa benri desu. - this chair is comfortable.

With regular adjective (i-adjective) you never add na. So it's:

Kore wa tsumetai tabemono desu. - This is cold food.

Kono tabemono wa tsumetai desu. - This food is cold.

Did I explained it a bit?

[SkaKid0911]

Yes, thank you very much.
It makes more sense now.
Arigatou Gozaimasu.
Now I'm off to dinner
(I know its irrelivant but I never got to use the dude eating so I put it )

[fixelbrumpf]

Are there any i-adjectives that are actually -na adjectives other than kirai?
I asked my Japanese friends, but they couldn't think of any.

[kara]

Originally Posted by fixelbrumpf

Are there any i-adjectives that are actually -na adjectives other than kirai?
I asked my Japanese friends, but they couldn't think of any.

綺麗(kirei---beautiful)
心配(shinpai---anxious/anxiousness)
心外(shingai---regrettable)
法外(hougai---extraordinary)
奇怪(kikai---strange)
些細(sasai---trifling)
尊大(sondai---arrogant)
雄大(yudai---grand)
広大(koudai---vast)
甚大(jindai---serious)
寛大(kandai---generous)
・大(kyoudai---mighty)
etc.

These words are written in 2 kanjis, so natives often mistake them as noun. But grammatically they are treated as adjectives(or adjective/noun) in the leading theory(Hashimoto bunpou).

[Elizabeth]

Originally Posted by fixelbrumpf

Are there any i-adjectives that are actually -na adjectives other than kirai?
I asked my Japanese friends, but they couldn't think of any.

Well, kirei of course and byouki (or is it just byouki no?). 大きい, 小さい, 黄色い(likely some other colors as well) can also be both.

[fixelbrumpf]

Thanks, I already knew about "kirei", though. According to my textbook, adjectives that end in "-ei" are always -na adjectives.

Could it be that adjectives that can be used both with and without -na like ookii and chisai are more frequently used with -na, by the way?

[Glenn]

Originally Posted by fixelbrumpf

Could it be that adjectives that can be used both with and without -na like ookii and chisai are more frequently used with -na, by the way?

Just in case this wasn't just a typo, it's "chiisai," two "i's." As for your question, not in my (limited) experience.

[Elizabeth]

Originally Posted by fixelbrumpf

Could it be that adjectives that can be used both with and without -na like ookii and chisai are more frequently used with -na, by the way?

From what I understand, the "na" makes it slightly more formal sounding, although according to my dictionary also more subjective, emotional or impressionistic. Fortunately you don't have to decide with certain words which can only take one or the other such as Chisaina shinsetsu (a small kindness) or chisai toki (when I was little).