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JLPT N5Adjectives

な-Adjective Conjugation Core

な-adjectives behave like nouns: they have no built-in tense. Tense and negation are carried by the copula (だ / です / じゃない / でした). Before a noun they take な.

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Pro lessonUNIT 17 · ADJECTIVES

Structure · 形

[な-adj stem] + だ/です / じゃない・じゃありません / だった・でした / じゃなかった

Examples · 例文

  • 暇 → 暇です / 暇じゃない / 暇でした / 暇じゃなかった

    hima → hima desu / hima ja nai / hima deshita / hima ja nakatta

    free (not busy) → am free / am not free / was free / was not free

    The stem 暇 never changes; only the copula conjugates

  • 静か → 静かです / 静かじゃない / 静かでした / 静かじゃなかった

    shizuka → shizuka desu / shizuka ja nai / shizuka deshita / shizuka ja nakatta

    quiet → is quiet / is not quiet / was quiet / was not quiet

    The stem 静か stays fixed; the copula carries all the tense and negation

  • それはきれいな花ですね。

    Sore wa kirei na hana desu ne.

    That's a pretty flower, isn't it?

    Before a noun, a な-adjective takes な: きれい + な + 花

Usage notes · 注意

  • To connect a な-adjective directly to a noun you must add な: 静かな部屋 (a quiet room). • At the end of a sentence it drops the な and uses the copula: この部屋は静かだ (This room is quiet).

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones な-Adjective is tested against.

vsい-adjectives

い-adjectives conjugate on their own (暑かった); な-adjectives can't — they need the copula for tense (静かだった) and な before a noun.

More adjectives

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