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N5 Grammar Lesson 13

な-adjectives: きれい, しずか, 好き and how they work

Learn the second type of adjective: な-adjectives like しずか, べんり and 元気. Use 〜な before a noun, make the negative and past with です, and avoid the classic traps — きれい and きらい look like い-adjectives but are な-adjectives.

35 min lesson JLPT N5

In this lesson you will

  • Recognise な-adjectives and use them with です
  • Make the negative and past: じゃありません, でした, じゃありませんでした
  • Put な between a な-adjective and a noun
  • Use 好き, きらい, 上手 and 下手 with が
  • Avoid the きれい / きらい trap

The second type of Japanese adjective behaves like a noun: it does not change its own ending. Instead, the change happens in です. These adjectives are called な-adjectives, because they take な before a noun.

The forms of a な-adjective

TenseAffirmativeNegative
Presentしずかです — is quietしずかじゃありません — is not quiet
Pastしずかでした — was quietしずかじゃありませんでした — was not quiet

These are exactly the same endings as nouns (学生がくせいです, 学生がくせいじゃありません). ではありません is a more formal alternative to じゃありません, and in casual-polite speech you will also hear しずかじゃないです.

な-adjective + な + noun

Before a noun, add な: しずかなへや (a quiet room), べんりなアプリ (a useful app), 元気げんきな子こども (a lively child). This な is what gives the group its name.

The classic trap: きれい and きらい

きれい (pretty; clean) and きらい (to dislike) end in い, but they are な-adjectives. So the negative is きれいじゃありません (not “きれくない”), and before a noun you say きれいなへや. ゆうめい (famous) and とくい (good at) work the same way. When you learn a new adjective that ends in い, check which type it is.

好き, きらい, 上手, 下手

These four な-adjectives describe likes and skills, and the thing you like or are good at takes が: わたしはねこが好すきです (I like cats), リンさんは料理りょうりが上手じょうずです (Lin is good at cooking). It is polite to use 上手じょうず about others, not yourself; for yourself, use とくい or say 上手じょうずじゃありません modestly.

Being praised with 日本語にほんごが上手じょうずですね is very common. A modest reply is いいえ、まだまだです — “No, I still have a long way to go.”

Common mistakes

  • Treating きれい like an い-adjective: “きれくない” and “きれかった” are wrong; say きれいじゃありません and きれいでした.
  • Forgetting な before a noun: しずかなこうえん, not “しずかこうえん”.
  • Using を with 好すき: say すしが好すきです, not “すしを好きです”.
  • Saying わたしは上手じょうずです about yourself. It sounds like boasting.

How to practise

  • Describe your neighbourhood with しずか, にぎやか and べんり.
  • Say three things you like and one thing you dislike with が好すきです / がきらいです.
  • Make pairs of い- and な-adjectives with the same pattern: 新あたらしいへや / きれいなへや.
  • Do the worksheet exercise and check which adjectives change their own ending.

Study options

Vocabulary

Vocabulary list
JapaneseReadingRomajiMeaningType
元気げんきgenkihealthy; energetic; wellna-Adjective
好きすきsukiliked; to likena-Adjective
きらいきらいkiraidisliked; to dislikena-Adjective
上手じょうずjōzugood at; skilfulna-Adjective
下手へたhetabad at; unskilfulna-Adjective
きれいきれいkireipretty; cleanna-Adjective
しずかしずかshizukaquietna-Adjective
にぎやかにぎやかnigiyakalively; busy (place)na-Adjective
ゆうめいゆうめいyūmeifamousna-Adjective
しんせつしんせつshinsetsukind; helpfulna-Adjective
べんりべんりbenriconvenient; usefulna-Adjective
ひまひまhimafree (time); not busyna-Adjective
たいへんたいへんtaihenhard; toughna-Adjective
かんたんかんたんkantaneasy; simplena-Adjective
だいじょうぶだいじょうぶdaijōbuall right; OKna-Adjective

Grammar

な-adj + です／じゃありません

is … / is not …

A な-adjective works like a noun: add です, or じゃありません / ではありません for the negative.

Examples

  1. このまちはしずかです。

    このまちはしずかです。

    Kono machi wa shizuka desu.

    This town is quiet.

  2. このまちはべんりじゃありません。

    このまちはべんりじゃありません。

    Kono machi wa benri ja arimasen.

    This town is not convenient.

な-adj + でした／じゃありませんでした

was … / was not …

For the past, change です to でした and じゃありません to じゃありませんでした. The adjective itself never changes.

Examples

  1. きのうのパーティーはにぎやかでした。

    きのうのパーティーはにぎやかでした。

    Kinō no pātī wa nigiyaka deshita.

    Yesterday’s party was lively.

  2. しごとはたいへんじゃありませんでした。

    しごとはたいへんじゃありませんでした。

    Shigoto wa taihen ja arimasen deshita.

    The work wasn’t hard.

な-adj + な + noun

a … (noun)

Before a noun, add な. Compare with い-adjectives, which need nothing: 新あたらしいへや but きれいなへや.

Examples

  1. しずかなへやがいいです。

    しずかなへやがいいです。

    Shizuka na heya ga ii desu.

    I’d like a quiet room.

  2. ここはゆうめいなレストランです。

    ここはゆうめいなレストランです。

    Koko wa yūmei na resutoran desu.

    This is a famous restaurant.

〜が好きです／きらいです／上手です／下手です

like / dislike / be good at / be bad at …

The thing you like or are good at is marked with が. The person usually takes は.

Examples

  1. わたしはサッカーが好きです。

    わたしはサッカーがすきです。

    Watashi wa sakkā ga suki desu.

    I like football.

  2. アニルさんはりょうりが上手です。

    アニルさんはりょうりがじょうずです。

    Aniru-san wa ryōri ga jōzu desu.

    Anil is good at cooking.

Kanji

Select a kanji to see its readings, stroke count and example words.

  • 元origin; beginning
    On’yomi
    ゲン、ガン
    Kun’yomi
    もと
    Strokes
    4

    Example words

    • 元気 げんき healthy; energetic
    • 元日 がんじつ New Year’s Day
  • 気spirit; air; feeling
    On’yomi
    キ、ケ
    Kun’yomi
    —
    Strokes
    6

    Example words

    • 元気 げんき healthy; energetic
    • 天気 てんき weather
    • 気分 きぶん mood; feeling
  • 好to like
    On’yomi
    コウ
    Kun’yomi
    す（き）、この（む）
    Strokes
    6

    Example words

    • 好き すき liked; to like
    • 大好き だいすき to love; really like
  • 手hand
    On’yomi
    シュ
    Kun’yomi
    て
    Strokes
    4

    Example words

    • 手 て hand
    • 上手 じょうず good at
    • 下手 へた bad at

Practice quiz

Choose one answer for each question, then press “Check answer”. Nothing is saved or sent.

Question 1 of 10How do you say “a quiet room”?
Question 2 of 10What is the negative of きれいです?
Question 3 of 10How do you say “It was lively”?
Question 4 of 10Which particle goes with 好きです? (I like sushi.)
Question 5 of 10Which of these is a な-adjective?
Question 6 of 10How do you read 上手?
Question 7 of 10What is the past negative of べんりです?
Question 8 of 10Someone says 日本語が上手ですね. What is a modest reply?
Question 9 of 10How do you say “a famous temple”?
Question 10 of 10What does 元気 mean?

0 of 10 answered

Frequently asked questions

How can I tell if an adjective is い or な?

Most adjectives ending in い are い-adjectives, but some are な-adjectives: きれい, きらい, ゆうめい, とくい. Adjectives that don’t end in い (しずか, べんり, 元気) are always な-adjectives. Dictionaries and our vocabulary lists show the type for every adjective.

I’ve seen 大きな and 小さな. Are 大きい and 小さい な-adjectives?

No, they are い-adjectives. 大きな and 小さな are special forms used only before a noun (大きなこえ, a loud voice). They mean the same as 大きい and 小さい; you can use either before a noun.

Why does 好き take が and not を?

Because 好き is an adjective, not a verb: the sentence literally says “as for me, sushi is liked”. The liked thing is the subject, so it takes が.

Is it rude to say 上手 about myself?

It sounds like boasting. To talk about your own skills, use とくい (something you are good at or confident in) or be modest: まだ上手じゃありません.

More lessons at this level

N5 Grammar
Lesson 11

Verbs in the ます form: present, past and negative

Talk about what you do, did and didn’t do with the polite ます form — 〜ます, 〜ません, 〜ました, 〜ませんでした — meet the three verb groups, and use the time words 毎日, 今日, 明日 and 昨日.

40 min

Keep going

Continue to the next level

Comfortable with these lessons? Move on to JLPT N4 and keep building your Japanese one step at a time.

Start N4 lessons