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Two types of adjectives (Lesson 13)

Adjectives are divided basically into two kinds, those that end with the syllable I, and those that do not. Those that end with the syllable I are called I-adjectives. They include words like HIROI (wide), and ATARASHII (new).

We place adjectives before the nouns that they modify. "A new book," for example, is ATARASHII HON. As for the adjectives that do not end with the syllable I, we add NA to them, when we use them to modify nouns. So, they are called NA-adjectives. One example is SUKI (to be fond of, to like) in today’s skit. You may think it is an I-adjective, as it ends with I. But it is not. It ends with the syllable KI. So, "the book I like" becomes SUKINA HON.
But there are some exceptions. Some NA-adjectives end with the syllable I, but take NA, when they modify nouns. These include "pretty, clean" - KIREI, "famous" - YÛMEI, and "good at" - TOKUI. So, "a clean book" is not KIREI HON, but KIREINA HON.