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Activities: "How to use adjectives in Japanese?"

By: Mayumi Ito
Associated Articles

These activities are part of our Japanese Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

Exercise 1: i-adjectives and na-adjectives

Let’s practice how to use i-adjectives and na-adjectives. Use one of the adjectives given in the word bank to complete each sentence. Don’t forget to change the form as needed according to the given context. You can use each adjective only once, so be strategic when choosing one!

Word Bank

i-adjectives:

古い

furui

“old” (but not for age!)

辛い

karai

hot; spicy

難しい

muzukashii

difficult

冷たい

tsumetai

cold to touch

na-adjectives:

有名

yūmei

famous

親切

shinsetsu

kind

便利

benri

convenient

すてき

suteki

lovely; nice

  • 京都には お寺がたくさんあります。
    Kyōto ni wa ... otera ga takusan arimasu.
    There are many ... temples in Kyoto.

    Correct answer and form:
    古い[furui](old [not for age])

    Important!

    We CANNOT use 古い[furui] for the age of people or animals. There is no adjective for old people/animals (surprise!), but we can use expressions such as 高齢の[kōrei no], 年配の[nenpai no], 年寄りの[toshiyori no], or 年老いた[toshioita]. We talk about the use of the ta-form of verbs and the “noun + の” structure to modify nouns in another article.

  • デパートで ワンピースを買いました。
    Depāto de ... wanpiisu o kaimashita.
    I bought a ... dress at the department store.

    Correct answer and form:
    すてきな[sutekina](lovely)

  • スマホはとても道具です。
    Sumaho wa totemo ... dōgu desu.
    Smartphones are very ... tools.

    Correct answer and form:
    便利な[benrina](convenient)

  • 今日は暑いですから、物が飲みたいです。
    Kyō wa atsui desu kara, ... mono ga nomitai desu.
    Because it’s hot today, I want to drink something ...

    Correct answer and form:
    冷たい[tsumetai](cold)

  • ひらがなは簡単ですが、漢字は　難しいです　。
    Hiragana wa kantan desu ga, kanji wa ...
    Hiragana is easy, but kanji is ...

    Correct answer and form:
    難しいです[muzukashii desu](difficult)

    Note:
    Did you say 難しい[muzukashii] without です[desu]? It’s not wrong-wrong, but since the first half of the sentence uses the polite form (です), it’s better to finish the sentence in the polite form (this applies to #6, 7, 8 as well!).

  • 佐藤先生はおもしろいです。それに。
    Satō sensei wa omoshiroi desu. Soreni ...
    Professor Sato is funny. Also, she is ...

    Correct answer and form:
    親切です[shinsetsu desu](kind)

  • この俳優はイケメンですが、あまり。
    Kono haiyū wa ikemen desu ga, amari yūmei ja arimasen ...
    This actor is nice-looking, but ...

    Correct answer and form:
    有名じゃありません[yūmei ja arimasen](not very famous)

    Alternate answer:
    You can also say 有名ではありません[yūmei de wa arimasen]. It’d sound more formal.

  • 初めてキムチを食べました。とても。
    Hajimete kimuchi o tabemashita. Totemo ...
    I ate kimuchi for the first time. It ... very ...

    Correct answer and form:
    辛かったです[karakatta desu](was hot)

    Did you know?
    The kanji for 辛い[karai](hot) has another reading: つらい[tsurai] which means “painful; hard to cope.” How to know which is which? It all depends on the context!

Exercise 2: Role-playing

This time, let’s do some role-playing exercises. Don’t worry, we’ll help you along the way!

Act 1:

You are walking down an office hallway and bump into a Japanese coworker who has just got back from a snowboarding trip. Let’s have a chat.

Word Bank

楽しい

tanoshii

fun; enjoyable

寒い

samui

cold

きれい

kirei

beautiful; pretty; clean

所

tokoro

place

  • You: 旅行はどうでしたか。
    Ryokō wa dō deshita ka?
    How was your trip?

  • Coworker: とても よ。志賀高原に行ったんです。
    Totemo ... yo. Shiga Kōgen ni ittan desu.
    It ... very ... . We went to Shiga Kogen.

  • You: 志賀高原？どんな所ですか。
    Shiga Kōgen? Don’na tokoro desu ka.
    Shiga Kogen? What kind of place is it?

  • Coworker: 所ですよ。
    ... tokoro desu yo.
    It’s a ... place.

  • You: 寒かったですか。
    Samukatta desu ka.
    Was it cold?

  • Coworker: いいえ、あまり 。今度いっしょに行きませんか。
    Lie, amari ... . Kondo issho ni ikimasen ka.
    No, it ... very ... . Why don’t we go there together next time?

    👉 Remember that we can’t use a short answer form such as そうじゃありません[Sō ja arimasen, “it’s not so”] when the yes-no question is an adjective sentence.

  • You: うーん、私は冬のスポーツが苦手なんですよ。
    Ūn, watashi wa fuyu no supootsu ga nigate nandesu yo.
    Hmmm, I’m not a huge fan of winter sports, you know.

Act 2:

You are enjoying your vacation in Okinawa, the southern island prefecture in Japan. A Japanese friend calls you from Tokyo. Let’s have a chat.

Word Bank

暖かい

atatakai

warm

冷たい

tsumetai

cold to touch

きれい

kirei

beautiful; clean

いい

ii

good; nice

  • Friend: 沖縄はどう？
    Okinawa wa dō?
    How’s Okinawa?

  • You: よ。まるで春みたい。
    ... yo. Marude haru mitai.
    ... , you know. It feels like spring.

  • Friend: どんなホテルに泊まってるの？
    Don’na hoteru ni tomatteru no?
    What kind of hotel are you staying at?

  • You: だよ。それに見晴らしがとても　。
    ... da yo. Sore ni miharashi ga totemo ...
    It’s a ... , you know. Also the view ... very ...

  • Friend: もう海で泳げる？
    Mō umi de oyogeru?
    Can you swim in the ocean already?

  • You: いや、まだ水が　　から、泳げない。でもサーフィンはできるよ。
    Iya, mada mizu ga ... kara, oyogenai. Demo sāfin wa dekiru yo.
    No, we can’t because the water ... still ... . But we can do surfing.

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