Japanese Na-Adjectives: Na, Da, and Conjugation

A na-adjective uses な before a noun but behaves much like a noun predicate at the end of a sentence. Compare 静かな部屋 with 部屋は静かです. The な is a connector, not an ending to keep in every position.

Formation and use

Before a noun, use the adjective stem plus な: 便利な店, 元気な人. At the end of an ordinary polite statement use 便利です, not 便利なです.

Plain affirmative is 静かだ, plain negative 静かではない or 静かじゃない, and plain past 静かだった. Polite equivalents include 静かです・静かではありません・静かでした.

Comparisons and common errors

きれい and 嫌い end in い but are na-adjectives: きれいな部屋, 嫌いな食べ物. 好き also belongs to this class. Do not make きれくない by treating its final sound as an i-adjective ending.

好きな本 means a book someone likes; 本が好きです says someone likes books or a particular book. The surrounding context supplies who likes it. Do not assume an omitted subject is always “I.”

Practise with explanations

Try the 10 questions below, or open the practice set. Check each answer or the whole set, read the explanation, and retry mistakes. First-attempt results are kept separately on this device.

Connected lessons

• Desu and Da: Noun Sentences, Negatives, and Past
• Japanese I-Adjectives: Negative and Past Forms
• Put Japanese Adjectives Before Nouns