Photo by Hideki Nishiyama on Unsplash
In this post we’ll learn some basic Japanese vocabulary that you can use to describe things.
何色ですか。Nani iro desu ka. What color is it?
Let’s start with colors: 黒い kuroi black; 白い shiroi white; 赤い akai red; 青い aoi blue; 黄色い kiiroi yellow; 緑 midori green; 茶色い chairoi brown; グレー guree gray.
- 犬は黒いです。
Inu wa kuroi desu.
The dog is black. - 猫は白いです。
Neko wa shiroi desu.
The cat is white.
- 車は青いです。
Kuruma wa aoi desu.
The car is blue. - 日本の国旗は白と赤です。
Nihon no kokki wa shiro to aka desu.
The Japanese flag is white and red.
いいですね! Īdesu ne! Sounds good!
Now let’s look at several other important basic adjectives: いい ii good; 悪い warui bad; 大きい ookii big; 小さい chiisai small; 美しい、きれい utsukushii, kirei beautiful; 古い furui old; 新しい atarashii new; 長い nagai long; 短い mijikai short; 高い takai high; 低い hikui low; 空kara empty; 一杯 ippai full; 広い hiroi wide; 狭い semai narrow; 硬いkatai hard; 柔らかい yawarakai soft; 難しい muzukashii difficult; 易しい yasashii easy.
- このレストランは｛いい・よくない｝レストランです。
Kono resutoran wa {ī/yokunai} resutoran desu.
This restaurant is good/bad. - 映画は｛古い・新しい｝です。
Ēga wa {furui/atarashī} desu.
The film is old/new. - 町は｛きれい・大きい｝です。
Machi wa {kirē/ōkī} desu.
The city is beautiful/big. - 道は｛広い・狭い｝です。
Michi wa {hiroi/semai} desu.
The street is wide/narrow. - ベッドは｛硬い・柔らかい｝です。
Beddo wa {katai/yawarakai} desu.
The bed is hard/soft. - コップは｛一杯・空｝です。
Koppu wa {ippai/kara} desu.
The glass is full/empty.
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