Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 4: 2/13

い-Adjective + (Noun)

Describing a noun

Structure

［い］Adjective + Noun

Examples:
かわいい + 猫(ねこ)
新(あたら)しい + 車(くるま)
寒(さむ)い + 冬(ふゆ)

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Expression

  • Word Type

    Independent Word

  • Register

    Standard

  • 品詞

    表現

  • 単語の種類

    自立語

  • 使用域

    一般

About い-Adjective + Noun

In Japanese, almost any type of word can be attached to the beginning of a noun to modify the meaning, or describe the qualities of that noun. However, depending on the type of word used, conjugation rules will differ slightly.

For い-Adjectives, they are simply attached to the front of the noun in their standard (dictionary) form.

Caution

When identifying what is an い-Adjective, and what is not, remember that an い-Adjective will always have the い outside of any kanji that are in the word. However, the reverse situation with な-Adjectives always having the い in the kanji is not true 100% of the time.

面白(おもしろ)い - The い is outside of the kanji, so 'interesting' is almost definitely an い-Adjective.

綺麗(きれい) - The い is inside of the kanji, so 'clean' is definitely not an い-Adjective.

One example of an exception as mentioned above is 嫌(きら)い. Despite the い being outside of the kanji, 'hate' is actually a な-Adjective. Don't worry though, less than 1% of any adjective that has い on the outside of the kanji will actually be a な-Adjective!

Examples

  • 新(あたら)しい車(くるま)。

    A new car.

    • 可愛(かわい)い女(おんな)の子(こ)がいる。

      There is a cute girl.

      • カッコいい先輩(せんぱい)。

        Cool senpai.

        • 寒(さむ)い夜(よる)。

          Cold night.

          • 面白(おもしろ)いゲームを買(か)います。

            To buy an interesting game.

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            い-Adjective + Noun – Grammar Discussion

            Most Recent Replies (1 in total)

            • Yozhik

              Yozhik

              “面白い - The い is outside the kanji, so it is definitely an い-Adjective.

              綺麗 - The い is inside of the kanji, so it is definitely not an い-Adjective.
              There are some, but very few exceptions.

              嫌い - The い is outside of the kanji, but this is actually a な-Adjective.”

              So…. There are some, but very exceptions of what exactly?

              Where the い is inside the kanji and it is an い-adjective? That doesn’t seem to make sense, but that is what it seems to say.

              Where the い is outside the kanji, but it is actually a な-adjective? That would make sense, but if so I would suggest rewriting the section as:

              “面白い - The い is outside the kanji, so it is definitely an い-Adjective.

              綺麗 - The い is inside of the kanji, so it is definitely not an い-Adjective.

              嫌い - The い is outside of the kanji, but this is actually a な-Adjective.

              There are some, but very few exceptions, of an なーadjective where い is outside the kanji.”

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