There are two types of adjectives in Japanese, い-adjectives and な-adjectives. These adjectives behave in a different way.

In this lesson you will learn two adjectives, 大ooきい(ookii), which means big, and きれい, which means pretty. 大ooきい is an い-adjective, and きれい is a な-adjective.

Using adjectives after a noun

When used after a noun, there is no difference between these two kinds of adjectives, as you can see below.

English	Japanese

When used in front of a noun, な-adjectives end in な. This is why な-adjectives are called な-adjectives.

Using adjectives in front of a noun

English	Japanese

い-adjectives don't change when used in front of a noun. All い-adjectives end in い, but not all adjectives ending in い are い-adjectives. Otherwise きれい would also be an い-adjective, which it is not.

You don't have to worry about remembering whether each adjective you learn is an い-adjective or a な-adjective. We will make sure to use each adjective we teach in a sentence in such a way that you will know and remember.

The nationality suffix

As you can see in the table below, we can refer to a person from a specific country by placing the kanji 人zin after the country name.

English	Japanese

Breakdown of nihonzin desu ka?