Lesson 4
Adjectives suki, kirai, hoshii, jouzu and heta
These five adjectives play by their own set of rules. Since they are used regularly, I think it would be good to get used to their weird ways as soon as possible.
Suki means "to like" and kirai means "to dislike." Yes, that's right — just as there are ideas conveyed through verbs in Japanese where adjectives would be used in English, as mentioned in Lesson 1, the reverse is also true. If you'll check your dictionary, you'll see that both of these exist in verb form: suku and kirau; but the chances are very slim that you'll ever hear them used that way. You will, however, hear them used in passive constructions, like:
- Kazuko wa doko ni itte mo sukareru. (Kazuko is liked wherever she goes.)
- Nattou wa takusan no hito kara kirawarete iru. (Nattou [fermented soybeans] is disliked by many people.)
For regular, straightforward talk about what you and others like and don't like, use suki and kirai in quasi-adjective form:
- Nihon no aki ga suki. (I like autumn in Japan.)
- Nihon no natsu wa mushiatsui kara suki dewa nai . (I don't like summers in Japan because they're hot and humid.)
- Mina gokiburi ga kirai. (Everyone hates cockroaches.)
Note that ga is used to link suki or kirai to their object when there is no other necessary element between them.
You can put dai (a lot; very much) before suki or kirai to emphasize them:
- Linda wa ichigo ga dai suki. (Linda loves strawberries.)
- Beth wa kumo ga dai kirai. (Beth really hates spiders.)
When you put the object in question after suki or kirai, use the quasi indicator na:
- Sore wa boku no suki na ongaku. (That's the music that I like.)
- Tanaka-san wa boku no kirai na tabemono bakari tsukuru. (All the food Mrs. Tanaka makes is the stuff I don't like.)
Interestingly, and mainly colloquially, these can also be used to modify the indirect object:
- Yasai no suki na kodomo ga sukunai. (There are few kids that like vegetables.)
- Sashimi ga kirai na hito ga takusan imasu. (There are many people that don't like raw fish.)
While hoshii is a true adjective, it's used to represent the English verb "want." It also uses ga when following its object, but remains alone when preceding it:
- Fuusen ga hoshii! (I want a balloon!)
- Watashi no hoshii iro ga nai. (They don't have the color I want.)
- Akai fuusen no hoshii kodomo ga ooi. (There are many kids who want a red balloon.)
Although hoshii isn't necessarily a kid's word, outside of familiar circles it could make you sound like one when expressing your own desires, so you'll want to be careful with it.
I should mention here that hoshii can be used with verbs in the Te Form to imply "want (someone) to...," just like -te moraitai. It's not used on yourself. It's used like this:
- Boku wa ima kono heya o souji shitai. Soshite kimi ni tetsudatte hoshii. (I want to clean this room now, and I want you to help.)
- Motto eigo o benkyou shite hoshii. (I want you to study English more.)
- Kore o yonde hoshii. (I want you to read this.)
This is very plain and familiar, however. Be sure to upgrade to something like -te kudasai or -te itadakitai when necessary. (See Japanese Verbs Lessons 55 and 61.)
Like suki and kirai, jouzu and heta are quasi-adjective opposites that fill the role of ideas usually expressed by verbs in English. They also use ga before or na after in the same manner. Jouzu means "to be good at; well done," and heta means the exact opposite:
- Kanojo wa ryouri ga jouzu desu ne. (She's a good cook, isn't she. [with falling intonation])
- Sore wa jouzu na e. (That's a nicely done painting.)
- Watashi wa piano ga hontou ni heta desu. (I'm really bad at playing the piano.)
- Heta na uta! (What a poorly done song!)
- Karaoke ga jouzu na hito ga sukunai. (There aren't many people who are good at karaoke.)
There are a few expressions with jouzu where the ga is often omitted:
- Kare wa eigo jouzu. (He speaks English well.)
- Sachi wa ryouri jouzu deshou? (Sachi's a great cook, isn't she?)
|
