Nihongo no Oshaberi 日本語のおしゃべり

Japanese Language
「Adjectives and Adverbs」
「Part 2」

「Adjectival Predicates」

When using I-adjectives as predicates(part of the sentence or clause with a verb stating something about the subject) they behave like verbs in Japanese. When 大きい・Ōkī「big」or 黒い・Kuroi「black」is used as a predicate, they are transformed to mean "is big" "is black" instead of simply "big" or "black".

Examples:
田中さんの家は大きい。
Tanaka-san no ie wa Ōkī.
Mr. Tanaka's house is big.

私の車は黒い。
Watashi no kuruma wa kuroi.
My car is black.

When Na-adjectives are used as predicates they behave as nouns. More specifically, the stem form (the part of the word without na) needs to be followed by the copula (be-verb) da, similar to an ordinary proper noun. Due to this, Na-adjectives are commonly known as "nominal (nounlike) adjectives" or "Adjectival nouns".

Examples:
この花はきれいだ。
​Kono hana wa Kirei da.
The flower is pretty.

山田さんはげんきだ。
Yamada-san wa genki da.
Miss Yamada is healthy.

A number of Na-adjectives can be used as nouns when they are functioning as the subject or object of a sentence.

Examples:
安全な遊び場。
anzenna asobiba
a safe playground
子供にとって安全がたいせつだ。
Kodomo ni totte anzen ga taisetsu da.
Saftey is important for children.

ぜいたくなくらし
Zeitakuna kurashi
Luxurious living
そんあぜいたくはできない。
Sonna zeitaku wa dekinai.
I can't afford such a luxury.

Exceptions:
I-adjectives Ōkī,・大きい (big) chiisai・小さい (small), and okashii ・おかしい(funny), can be used as Na-adjectives  when certain nouns are modified .

Examples:
大きな公園
Ōkīna kōen
a big park

小さな池
Chiisana ike
a small pond

おかしな話
okashina hanashi
a funny story

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