的【てき】

的 goes after a noun and makes a な-adjective of it, much like English "-al", "-ic" or "-ive": けいざい経済 "economy" becomes けいざいてき経済的 "economic". Before a noun it takes な, before a verb or an adjective it takes に, and at the end of a sentence だ or です.

的な or の

Both can join two nouns, but they don't say the same thing. の links the nouns directly: a problem of the economy. 的な says what kind of thing it is: an economic problem, a problem about money.

Which nouns take 的

的 goes on Sino-Japanese words (漢語), mostly abstract ones. A native word or an everyday concrete noun doesn't take it; use のような instead.

• × 猫的な目 → 猫のような目

Usage notes

These go beyond the plain adjective.

的には, "as far as ~ goes"

With は, 的に narrows a statement to one point of view. こじんてき個人的には is "personally".

Straight onto a noun

In written compounds and set terms, 的 joins the next noun with no な.