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JLPT N5Adjectives

美味しい／まずい— Tasting Good or Bad

美味しい (delicious) and まずい (bad-tasting) are い-adjectives used to evaluate food. They conjugate for tense like any い-adjective.

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Pro lessonUNIT 36 · ADJECTIVES

Structure · 形

[Food] + は + 美味しい／まずい (です)

Examples · 例文

  • このラーメンはまずい！

    Kono raamen wa mazui!

    This ramen tastes terrible!

    まずい = bad-tasting / unappetizing (い-adjective).

  • 美味しかったです。

    Oishikatta desu.

    It was delicious.

    Past tense of 美味しい: drop い → かった (美味しかった).

  • この店のパンはとても美味しいです。

    Kono mise no pan wa totemo oishii desu.

    The bread at this shop is very delicious.

    美味しい (delicious, い-adjective) in plain present + です for politeness.

Usage notes · 注意

  • Register: 美味しい is neutral/polite; うまい is the casual, masculine-leaning equivalent for 'tasty'.
  • Etiquette: It is normal to say 美味しい！ after the first bite of food someone made for you. Avoid saying まずい to a cook's face — it is blunt and rude.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones 美味しい／まずい is tested against.

vsうまい

うまい means the same 'tasty' but is casual/rough (and also means 'skillful'); 美味しい is the safe polite choice, especially for women and formal settings.

vsい-adjective past tense (かった) vs です

The い-adjective itself carries the past tense (美味しかった); です stays present and is only added for politeness — never say 美味しいでした.

More adjectives

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