I can describe a place or a person with な-adjectives — 「へやはしずかです」, 「しずかじゃないです」 — without mixing them up with い-adjectives, and hear that 「はし」 comes with two melodies.
What it's like: ～です / ～じゃないです
What it's like: ～です / ～じゃないです
Goal of the lesson: say what a place or a person is like: “quiet”, “convenient”, “lively”. These are な-adjectives.
The affirmative is the same as for い-adjectives: word ＋ です — 「へやはしずかです。」
But the negative is different — じゃないです: しずか → しずかじゃないです (more polite: じゃありません; in answers, write じゃないです). It's the same pair as 「がくせいです」 and 「がくせいじゃないです」: な-adjectives behave like nouns.
Question: か at the end: 「こうえんはしずかですか。」 Short answer: 「はい、しずかです。」 or 「いいえ、しずかじゃないです。」
The trap: きれい, ゆうめい, and きらい end in い, but they are な-adjectives, and their negative is also じゃないです. The list is closed: there are no other such words at this level. That's why な-adjectives carry the tag “(な)” in the word lists.
Common mistakes:
• NOT 「しずかくないです」 — くないです is only for い-adjectives.
• NOT 「きれくないです」 — the end of きれい doesn't change.
• NOT 「べんりいです」 — an extra い.
な-adjectives: like a noun
The negative is じゃないです, exactly as with がくせい or いしゃ.
| Word | Affirmative | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| しずか(な) | しずかです | しずかじゃないです | しずかですか |
| いしゃ (as with a noun) | いしゃです | いしゃじゃないです | いしゃですか |
Trap: they end in い, but they're な-adjectives
The list is closed: at this level there are three such words. Their negative is じゃないです, as with しずか.
| Word | Meaning | Type |
|---|---|---|
| きれい(な) | clean, beautiful | な-adjective |
| ゆうめい(な) | famous | な-adjective |
| きらい(な) | disliked | な-adjective |
Lesson notes
What it's like: ～です / ～じゃないです
Goal of the lesson: say what a place or a person is like: “quiet”, “convenient”, “lively”. These are な-adjectives.
The affirmative is the same as for い-adjectives: word ＋ です — 「へやはしずかです。」
But the negative is different — じゃないです: しずか → しずかじゃないです (more polite: じゃありません; in answers, write じゃないです). It's the same pair as 「がくせいです」 and 「がくせいじゃないです」: な-adjectives behave like nouns.
Question: か at the end: 「こうえんはしずかですか。」 Short answer: 「はい、しずかです。」 or 「いいえ、しずかじゃないです。」
The trap: きれい, ゆうめい, and きらい end in い, but they are な-adjectives, and their negative is also じゃないです. The list is closed: there are no other such words at this level. That's why な-adjectives carry the tag “(な)” in the word lists.
Common mistakes:
• NOT 「しずかくないです」 — くないです is only for い-adjectives.
• NOT 「きれくないです」 — the end of きれい doesn't change.
• NOT 「べんりいです」 — an extra い.
A word has a melody
In Japanese, words differ not by loudness but by pitch: a word has a melody, called pitch accent (high and low, not loud and soft). 「はし」 “chopsticks” (you know it as おはし): the voice is high on は and drops after the first mora. 「はし」 “bridge”: the voice is low on は and rises to し.
In writing there's no difference, so the melody is never tested in writing: listen and choose. You won't get a mistake for the melody, but the sooner you hear it, the easier you'll be to understand. English stress gets in the way here: don't make one syllable louder or longer. All moras are the same length; only the pitch changes.