JavaScript is required
Japanese - Grammar Points

な-Adjectives, but negative

な-Adjectives, but negative

Negative descriptor

As mentioned in the introductory lesson to な-adjectives, a lot of the conjugation rules that apply to nouns apply to な-adjectives as well. We can use this knowledge to easily remember how to turn な-adjectives into their negative form.

To negate な-adjectives, simply add the expression じゃない to the adjective. Notice that this is the same pattern used to negate .

きれい(ひと) → きれいじゃない(ひと)

Beautiful person → Not beautiful person

この(うた)(いや)じゃないけど毎日(まいにち)()ほどない

This song isn’t bad, but it’s not something I’d listen to every day.

日本語(にほんご)習得(しゅうとく)(らく)じゃない

Mastering Japanese isn’t easy.

Special Note

The な-adjective 大丈夫(だいじょうぶ) all right is normally negated, like any other な-adjective, by just adding じゃない. But there is also a frequently used slang version of this negation. Instead of 大丈夫(だいじょうぶ)じゃない, だいじょうばない is used.

This comes from the fact that verbs that end in ぶ, like () fly, turn into ()ばない in negative form. This change from ぶ to ば is then applied to the ぶ of だいじょうぶ and therefore turns its negative form to だいじょうばない.

Formation

な-adjective + じゃない + Noun

きれいじゃない(ひと)

Level up your learning

The information here is just the start!

Migaku guides you through learning the most common and useful grammar points and vocabulary.

This is combined with powerful immersive learning tools and an effective memorization platform, giving you a fast-track to fluency.