N5 · Adjectives and adverbs
Past and negative of adjectives
adjective forms: past and negative
An i-adjective changes its own ending; a na-adjective changes the だ or です after it.
An i-adjective conjugates by itself. Take off the final い and add くない for "not", かった for "was" and くなかった for "was not": 高い, 高くない, 高かった, 高くなかった. The negative 高くない itself ends in い and conjugates like an i-adjective — that is why its past is くなかった.
A na-adjective leaves the word alone and changes what follows it, exactly as a noun does: 静かだ, 静かじゃない (or the more formal 静かではない), 静かだった, 静かじゃなかった.
In polite style an i-adjective keeps its plain form and adds です: 高かったです, 高くないです. The negative has a second, slightly more formal polite version, 高くありません, with the past 高くありませんでした. A na-adjective changes です instead: 静かでした, 静かじゃありません, 静かじゃありませんでした.
The commonest mistake by far is putting the past on です after an i-adjective: 高いでした. It feels natural because 静かでした is right, but an i-adjective carries its own tense, and the です after it never changes. The second is いい: every form except the present is built on よ, so "it was good" is よかった and never いかった.
The form
stem (regular) stem (irregular) ending
| is expensive | 高い |
| is not expensive | 高くない |
| was expensive | 高かった |
| was not expensive | 高くなかった |
| is quiet | 静かだ |
| is not quiet | 静かじゃない |
| was quiet | 静かだった |
| was not quiet | 静かじゃなかった |
| is good (irregular) | いい |
| is not good | よくない |
| was good | よかった |
| was not good | よくなかった |
| polite: was expensive | 高かったです |
| polite: is not expensive | 高くありません |
| polite: was quiet | 静かでした |
| polite: is not quiet | 静かじゃありません |
The rules one by one
For an i-adjective, replace the final い with くない, かった or くなかった.
この店のコーヒーは高くないです。The coffee at this café is not expensive.
For a na-adjective, change だ into じゃない, だった or じゃなかった.
昔、この町は静かだった。This town used to be quiet.
In polite style an i-adjective keeps its own tense and adds です, which never changes.
昨日は寒かったです。It was cold yesterday.
いい builds every form except the present on よ.
天気がよかったです。The weather was good.
ではない is the written and more formal version of じゃない.
この方法は簡単ではない。This method is not simple.
A closer look
The negative is an adjective too
ない on its own is an i-adjective meaning "there is not", and the negative ending of an adjective is the same word. That is why 高くない conjugates exactly like 高い: 高くなかった, 高くなくて. Learn one pattern and you have both.
For the polite negative there are two forms. 高くないです is the everyday spoken one; 高くありません is a little more formal and is preferred in writing and careful speech. Both are correct, and you will hear both from the same speaker.
Exceptions and special cases (2)
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the adjective is いい, or a compound ending in it such as かっこいい
the negative and the past come from よい: よくない, よかった, かっこよかった.
あのコートはかっこよかったけど、高かった。That coat looked great, but it was expensive.
いい is a worn-down spoken form of よい that took over only the dictionary form.
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a na-adjective happens to end in い, such as きれい or 嫌い
the い stays: きれいじゃない, never きれくない.
この川の水はきれいじゃありません。The water in this river is not clean.
The い is part of the word, not an ending, so there is nothing to replace.
How to spot it
- 〜くない
- 〜かった
- 〜くなかった
- 〜じゃない
- 〜でした
- よかった
Example sentences
試験はあまり難しくなかったです。The exam was not very difficult.
旅行は楽しかったです。The trip was fun.
先週は忙しかった。I was busy last week.
昔、この辺はあまり便利じゃありませんでした。This area used not to be very convenient.
部屋はきれいじゃなかった。The room was not clean.
あの映画、よかったね。That film was good, wasn't it?
8 more example sentences
今朝はあまり寒くなかったです。It was not very cold this morning.
その店は安かったですか。Was that shop cheap?
子どものころ、野菜が嫌いでした。I disliked vegetables as a child.
駅は遠くないですよ。The station isn't far, you know.
日曜日の公園はにぎやかでした。The park was lively on Sunday.
最近、体の調子があまりよくありません。I have not been feeling very well lately.
試験の問題は簡単じゃなかった。The exam questions were not easy.
あのホテルは部屋が広かったです。The rooms in that hotel were spacious.
Worth knowing (2)
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あまり needs a negative
あまり means "not very" only together with a negative form: あまり辛くない. With a positive adjective it does not work, so あまり辛い is wrong. For "very", use とても.
このカレーはあまり辛くないです。This curry is not very spicy.
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ない is "there is not"
The plain negative of ある is ない, and it is an i-adjective in its own right: 時間がない, "there is no time", 時間がなかった, "there was no time".
時間がなかったので、タクシーに乗りました。I had no time, so I took a taxi.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The past belongs on the i-adjective itself. でした is the past of です after a noun or a na-adjective; after an i-adjective です only marks politeness and cannot carry tense.
An i-adjective changes itself; a na-adjective changes the だ after it.
Your turn
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