Lesson 11: Questions & Adjectives

Where would we get in life without questions and answers? Ever since you were a little grasshopper you had an insatiable curiosity, yes? And as you got older your quest for knowledge grew and grew. No, you say? Well, then why are you here? If you have no desire to learn, you should be off drinking beer and belching while watching reruns of the latest Lakers game (no offense to you Lakers fans out there). Some of the questions in your life that you asked you probably wished you hadn't, and there are probably a whole lot more questions that you wish you had asked but never had the courage to do so.

Fear not for your chance to renew your desire to quest for the unknown is closer than you think. Work with us through this lesson and you will be able to broaden your horizons beyond your wildest dreams. Who would have thought that you would be asking detailed questions in Japanese? Do you know what makes this lesson so great? Since you are conversing in a foreign tongue, the inibitions and barriers of culture and of your youth will be torn down and a clean road will be paved just for you. There is a saying in Japanese, Tabi no haji wa kaki sute which means, "The shame you create while away from the home is easily sloughed off and forgotten". Japanese people do this all the time and now you too, with your newfound love of Japanese, can do things the Japanese way! So in this lesson, let's start to ask slightly more detailed questions, ones that may have a little more relevance to your life (as opposed to, "Is this a pen?")

The Question

To review, the basic sentence structure in Japanese is, A wa B desu. This pattern is essential to remember as we progress through the various patterns. Just as in English when we first formally learn the verb, to be, we should keep in mind this pattern as well.We then learned how to form a simple question by adding ka to the end of the sentence to make it a question. A wa B desu ka. Gramatically speaking there is no question mark at the end of Japanese questions, but as everything in Japan that has taken on a western taste to it, many people add the question mark to the end. You wouldn't be penalized for it in a letter to a loved one, I don't think. You are probably a pro by now with this simple question pattern so I don't really want to dwell on it. Enough said, let's move on.

Making Your Speech more "Colorful": The Adjective

Adjectives, like in English, can be placed usually before or after the noun they are modifying. Remember that if you add the ka to the end of the statements they become questions. Here are a few examples of how you would place the adjective before the noun:

1. Kore wa oishii chiizu desu. (This is delicious cheese.)
2. Sore wa hen na hito desu ka. (Is that a strange person?)
3. Ano akai kuruma wa watashi no desu. (That red car is mine.)
4. Chiisai hito wa kirai desu ka? (Do you dislike small people?)
5. Takai hoteru wa ii hoteru desu. (Expensive hotels are good hotels.)

There are basically two kinds of adjectives, one that ends in -i when placed before nouns and another that ends in na before nouns. The na adjectives are usually words of chinese origin (just a tidbit of culture to store away in your ever-questing mind).

Here is a list of adjectives that you can use to spice up your daily conversations. Remember, a pen is just a pen, but a red pen is so much more!

Common -i Adjectives
atsui - hot
samui - cold
atatakai - warm
tsumetai - cool
ookii * - big
chiisai * - small
chikai - near
tooi - far
wakai - young (people etc.)
atarashii - new (things)
furui - old (things)
hayai - quick, early, fast
osoi - slow, late
oishii - tasty, delicious
mazui - awful, yucky

Common na Adjectives
benri na - convenient, useful
fuben na - inconvenient
shizuka na - quiet, peaceful
shinsetsu na - kind
yuumei na - famous
kirei na - pretty, clean, neat
taisetsu na - important
hontoo na - true
taihen na - serious, awful
hansamu na - handsome
ereganto na - elegant
shikku na - chic
rippa na - splendid
hen na - strange
shizuka na - quiet, silent

*The adjectives ookii and chiisai also have alternate na forms which are ooki na and chiisa na so you could say ookii hito or ooki na hito (big person).

Now let's take a look at adjectives when they come after the noun they modify:

We can use the same adjectives as noted above whether before or after the noun but there are a few subtle differences to remember. While the -i adjective stays the same, the na adjective drops the na altogether. Look at the example:

1. Watashi no kokoro wa wakai desu. (My mind is young.)
2. Watashi no shujin wa hansamu desu. (My husband is handsome.)

The Negative Adjective

It turns out that when you want to change your sentence from positive to negative, and the adjective is at the end, the form actually changes a little bit, but not that much that you can't remember. Japanese is not like English; the rules are rules and do not change. Remember it once and you will remember it forever.

To make an -i adjective negative you replace the final -i with -ku and then add arimasen (polite) or nai desu (informal). To make a -na adjective negative you put the verb desu into the negative: de wa arimasen (polite) or ja arimasen (informal). Ja is a contraction of de wa just like isn't is a contraction of is not. When we speak quickly our words tend to slur and as humans are lazy animals, it is easier not to move the lips much if we don't need to (especially if you hail from the Great White North where the winters are too cold to move the lips anyway). To add to this, you can make your speech even a little less formal by using nai in place of arimasen. Here are a few examples:

1a. Nihon no biiru wa oishii desu. (Japanese beer is delicious.)
1b. Kanada no biiru wa oishiku arimasen. (Canadian beer is not delicious.)

2a. Aki no happa wa akai desu. (Autumn leaves are red.)
2b. Watashi no hada wa akaku nai desu. (My skin is not red.)

3a. Indo karee wa karai desu. (Indian curry is hot.)
3b. Nihon no karee wa karaku nai. (Japanese curry is not hot.)

4a. Brad Pitt wa hansamu desu. (Brad Pitt is handsome.)
4b. Mick Jagger wa hansamu de wa arimasen. (Mick Jagger in not handsome.)

5a. Boku no heya wa kirei desu. (My room is clean.)
5b. Otooto no heya wa kirei ja arimasen. (My brother's room is not clean.)

6a. Keitai denwa wa benri desu. (Cellular phones are handy.)
6b. Botton benjo wa benri ja nai. (Outhouses are not handy.)

Stressing the Adjectives: Very and Not Very

It is quite simple to add a little more stress to describing an adjective. All you have to do is add totemo or taihen before the adjective you wish to modify.

1. Kono hito wa totemo ookii desu. (This person is very big.)
2. Furansu no wain wa taihen oishii desu. (French wine is very delicious.)

If you want to say it in the negative, just add amari before the adjective you wish to modify.

1. Jooji Baanzu wa amari wakaku arimasen. (George Burns is not very young.)
2. Kore wa amari benri ja nai. (This isn't very useful.)

- Sensei

Next Lesson: More on Adjectives - Pointing things out.