Gengo Girls #71: Some Of My Best Friends Are Books

Gengo Girls #71: Some Of My Best Friends Are Books

One rule of thumb is that if an adjective is written 100% in kanji, like 綺麗, it is probably a “na” adjective even if its last syllable is an . It’s only words like 新しい that are written with an actual that follow rules.

Of course, there are still a handful of adjectives written with an actual that follow “na” rules anyways, so even this rule won’t work 100% of the time. Just 95% of the time. Which isn’t half bad.

Vocabulary

綺麗 = きれい = pretty; clean

Transcript

言語ガールズ #71

Some Of My Best Friends Are Books

Yellow: So to figure out how to conjugate and adjective I just look at the last syllable?

Blue: Well… usually.

Yellow: Usually?

Blue: Some adjectives that end in , like 綺麗 (きれい), actually follow rules instead of rules.

Yellow: So you would conjugate です and leave the adjective alone.

Yellow: How do I tell if an adjective follows the normal rules or not?

Blue: Most dictionaries mark whether an adjective uses rules or rules.

Blue: So be sure you’re familiar with your dictionary.

Yellow: Did you hear that Mr. Dictionary? My friend here thinks we need to get to know each other better.

Yellow: What’s that Mr. Dictionary? You think we should go out for ice cream? Good idea.