な-Adjective

な-adjectives (also called adjectival nouns or 形容動詞) are one of the two main types of adjectives in Japanese. Unlike い-adjectives, which end in い, な-adjectives behave more like nouns and require the particle な when placed directly before a noun to modify it.

Modifying nouns

When a な-adjective directly describes a noun, attach な between the adjective and the noun.

As a predicate (at the end of a sentence)

When a な-adjective is used as the main predicate, it behaves like a noun – attach だ (casual) or です (polite). The な is not used here.

Conjugation

な-adjectives conjugate the same way as nouns with だ / です:

• Non-past (polite): 静かです – is quiet
• Negative (polite): 静かじゃないです / 静かではありません – is not quiet
• Past (polite): 静かでした – was quiet
• Past negative (polite): 静かじゃなかったです / 静かではありませんでした – was not quiet

Common な-adjectives

Some common な-adjectives include: げんき元気 (energetic/healthy), しずか静か (quiet), きれい (beautiful/clean), すき好き (liked), きらい嫌い (disliked), じょうず上手 (skillful), へた下手 (unskillful), ゆうめい有名 (famous), しんせつ親切 (kind), べんり便利 (convenient), たいへん大変 (tough/serious), and かんたん簡単 (easy/simple).

Watch out for きれい and 嫌い

A common mistake is treating きれい and きらい嫌い as い-adjectives because they end in い. However, they are な-adjectives. The い in these words is part of the kanji reading (綺麗・嫌い), not the adjective ending.

✗ きれいい花 – incorrect