Japanese Adjectives

Welcome to the second Japanese lesson about adjectives. This time we will first learn about colors, followed by grammar rules, then weather expressions, finally a conversation in Japanese to help you practice your daily phrases. To hear the pronunciation, just click on the sound icon.

black 黒い [kuroi]

grey 灰色の [haiiro no]

white 白い [shiroi]

blue 青い [aoi]

green 緑の [midori no]

yellow 黄色い [kiiroi]

red 赤い [akai]

brown 茶色い [chairoi]

Adjectives Grammar Rules

In general adjectives are words which describe or modify another person or object in a given sentence. For example: a beautiful flower the adjective is [beautiful] because it describes the noun [flower]. The following examples use adjectives in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Grammar Rules - Japanese + Pronunciation
my house is white [noun + adjective] 私の家は白いです。 [watashi no ie wa shiroi desu]
your country is big [noun + adjective] あなたの国は大きいです。 [anata no kuni wa ookii desu]
new books are expensive [plural + adjective] 新しい本は高価です。 [atarashii hon wa kouka desu]
we are happy here [pronoun + verb + adjective] 私たちはここで幸せにしています。 [watashi tachi wa koko de shiawase ni shi te i masu]
she has three small dogs [adjective + plural] 彼女は3匹の小さな犬を飼っています。 [kanojo wa san biki no chiisana inu o kat te i masu]
this language is very easy [adverb + adjective] この言語は非常に易しいです。 [kono gengo wa hijou ni yasashii desu]
I have a small green house [adjective + adjective] 私は小さな温室を持っています。 [watashi wa chiisana onshitsu o mot te i masu]

We're not done yet! The following is a list of more adjectives for you, often used when referring to weather conditions. I think it would be wise to memorize them.

cold 冷たい [tsumetai]

hot 熱い [atsui]

cloudy 曇った [kumot ta]

rainy 雨降りの [amefuri no]

snowy 雪の多い [yuki no ooi]

sunny 日のよく照る [hi no yoku teru]

windy 風の強い [kaze no tsuyoi]

warm 暖かい [atatakai]

Conversation in Japanese

Now we finally reach the most exciting part, the practice of the daily expressions used in almost every conversation. I recommend memorizing these phrases, because you will need them for sure.

English - Japanese - Pronunciation
hi こんにちは [konnichiwa]
how are you? お元気ですか？ [o genki desu ka?]
I'm good, thank you はい、元気です。 [hai, genki desu]
and you? あなたは？ [anata wa?]
what is your name? お名前は何ですか？ [o namae wa nan desu ka?]
my name is Maya 私の名前はマヤです。 [watashi no namae wa maya desu]
nice to meet you どうぞよろしく。 [douzo yoroshiku]

I hope you enjoyed this lesson about adjectives in Japanese. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below.