Adjective Tenses

Adjective Tenses

The grammar of different languages can be quite different indeed! The title of this article is ‘Adjective Tenses’ not ‘Verb Tenses.’ The reason why is that in Japanese, not just the verbs have tenses!

Gooded??

In Japanese, there aren’t as many verb tenses as in English. However, adjectives can also have tenses.

楽しい

(Approximate pronunciation) Taw no shee

This means: Fun

楽しかった

(Approximate pronunciation) Taw no she cot taw

This means: Was fun

The sentence then becomes quite an interesting one for an English speaker. After the past tense  adjective comes です (dess) which is the present tense of the Japanese version of

“to be.” Here is what a sentence looks like.

楽しかったです。

(Approximate pronunciation) tan no shee cot taw dess

This means: It was fun.

Literally though it means, “It was fun is.”

In Japanese, there are two different kinds of adjectives. The above adjective, fun, is what is called an い (ee) adjective. Which means that it ends with the syllable い.

楽しい

The other is a な (naw) adjective. It ends in な

静かな

(Approximate pronunciation) she zoo caw naw

This means: Quiet

The な adjectives do not have a special ending, so they are followed by the past tense ending of the “be” verb, だった. (Dot taw)

静かだった

(Approximate pronunciation) she zoo caw dawt ta

This means: It was quiet.