This is a departure from my usual attempt at a bilingual post just to announce another set of flashcards. We took our oral exam in our Japanese class yesterday and are now studying for our written chapter and final exams. So I thought this would be a good time to add the flashcards for na Adjectives. (The actual conjugation is explained in detail on pages 244 and 245 of our textbook).

An important thing to keep in mind about "na" adjectives is that grammatically they act more like nouns than true (i-type) adjectives.

• noun: (He) is a teacher. 先生だ。｜　先生です。
• na-adj: (He) is famous.　有名だ。｜　有名です。
• -i adj: (He) is kind.　やさしい。｜　やさしいです。

Whether an i-adjective precedes the noun it modifies or is in the predicate, its form is the same.

• -i adj: The kind man... やさしい人。。。(adjective precedes noun)
• -i adj: That man is kind.　 あの人はやさしい。 (predicate adjective)

But nouns also can be used to modify other nouns (that is, they play the role of adjectives). In Japanese when a noun modifies another noun, the particle の is required to show that the first noun modifies the second noun: 先生の本, 赤の本. In English, they usually change their form (in extremely irregular ways!)

In Japanese, na-adjectives work almost the same way as nouns, except they use な instead of の: きれいな本.

• noun: (It) is a Japanese (language) book. 日本語の本です。
• noun: The book is (in) Japanese. 本は日本語です。
• na-adj: (It) is a famous book.　有名な本です。
• na-adj: The book is famous.　本は有名です。
• -i adj: (It) is a new book.　新しい本です。
• -i adj: The book is new.　本は新しいです。

Once you understand that na-adjectives are a lot like nouns, then the six grammar points we learned in this chapter become much easier to form.

Nouns and na-Adjectives Before 時

とき is a noun. So use the same pattern as noun modifies noun and na-adjective modifies noun.

• こどもの本、こどもの時
• 有名な本、有名な時

Nouns and na-Adjectives Before the Indefinite Pronoun の

A pronoun takes the place of a noun. So the rules remain the same as above, with one exception. Because the particle の and the indefinite pronoun の would repeat, one is dropped.

• the Japanese book, 日本語の本
  -> the Japanese one, 日本語のの
• the famous book 有名な本
  -> the famous one　有名なの

If Clause: Independent Clause + ら

You form the if-clause (a conditional statement) by putting any statement in plain form, past tense. Nouns and na-adjectives behave exactly the same way here.

• 先生です。formal, non-past
• 先生だ。 plain, non-past
• 先生だった。 plain, past
• 先生だったら。 conditional
• 有名です。formal, non-past
• 有名だ。 plain, non-past
• 有名だった。 plain, past
• 有名だったら。 conditional

Reporting Hearsay: Independent Clause + そうです

This construction is almost the same as above, except the tense can be either past (だった) or non-past (だ). Just keep it plain. (です -> だ；でした -> だった)

And So: Independent Clause + し

し is a conjunction. When it is used with a single independent clause, you can translate it as "and so". You can include or omit the conclusion that follows the "and so..."

• "I'm busy, and so [I can't meet with you now]."

When し is used to connect multiple clauses, you can translate it as "and what's more".

• "I'm busy, and what's more, I have a headache, and so [I can't meet with you now]."

With nouns and na-adjectives, use the plain form of です (です -> だ；でした -> だった) to form an independent clause.