Lovely Adjectives~ 愛しい

[Dreams]

There are two types of adjectives:

~NA adjectives (they end with 'na', which is usually written apart from the adjective itself)
shizuka na (peaceful)
hen na (strange)
taisetsu na (important)
kirei na (pretty/clean/neat)
shinsetsu na (kind)
yuumei na (famous)
benri na (useful)

~I adjectives (they end with 'i')
oishii (tasty)
omoshiroi (amusing)
kanashii (sad)
ureshii (happy)
tanoshii (fun)
chiisai (small)
ookii (big)

(I find that for some reason there's a much wider, better selection of ~I adjectives!)

In standard use, they can come right before the noun:

Kanashii neko = A sad cat
Shizuka na niwa = A peaceful garden

Or they can be used with the copula desu/da to describe the noun.
However, when an adjective directly precedes desu/da, the 'na' on NA adjectives is dropped:

Kore wa hen da = This is strange
Tako wa oishii desu = Octopus is tasty

One last note - the word "very" is often used with adjectives.
"Totemo" or "taihen" are used directly before the adjective when it's being used in the positive sense.
"Amari" is used directly before the adjective when it's being used in the negative sense.

One last last note. The adjective ii (good, okay, well) is irregular in most forms. I'll note it below.

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Present Negative

To form negative adjectives, follow the rules below.
Keep in mind that unlike the present positive discussed above, this form is not used directly before a noun:

~NA adjectives
Because these words do not change themselves, they rely on negative forms of da/desu:

Kare no heya wa kirei ja nai = His room isn't clean
Kanojo wa shinsetsu de wa arimasen = She isn't nice

~I adjectives
These ones always change form themselves: the final 'i' will transform.
To make ~I adjectives negative in the polite present tense, there are two options:

Change the 'i' into 'kunai desu'.
Change the 'i' into 'ku arimasen'.

For informal present tense, just change the 'i' into 'kunai'.

Neko wa ureshikunai desu = It's an unhappy cat
Kono geemu wa tanoshiku arimasen = This game isn't fun
Anata no joudan wa omoshirokunai = Your joke isn't funny

*'ii' becomes 'yokunai (desu)' or 'yoku arimasen'.

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Past Tense

Once again, NA adjectives here will rely on da/desu to change tense, while I adjectives will transform:

~NA adjectives
Just add the past tense form of desu (datta or deshita) to make it past tense.
In addition, just add the past negative tense of desu (ja nakatta or de wa arimasen deshita or ja arimasen deshita) to make it past tense negative.

Kore wa hen datta = That was weird
Kanojo wa amari shinsetsu ja arimasen deshita = She wasn't very nice

(My examples continue to get lamer from here)

~I adjectives
For past positive, the 'i' changes to 'katta' (plus 'desu' if using the polite form).
For past negative, the 'i' changes to either 'ku arimasen' (plus 'deshita' for polite) or 'kunakatta' (plus 'desu' for polite).

Watashi wa totemo ureshikatta desu yo! = I was very happy
Sore wa ookikunakatta = It wasn't big

*'ii' becomes 'yokatta (desu)' and 'yoku arimasen (deshita)' or 'yokunakatta (desu)'

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Joining Adjectives Together

To join more than one adjective together, every adjective except the last one needs to change like this:

~NA adjectives: change the 'na' to 'de'
~I adjectives: change the 'i' to 'kute'
*'ii' becomes 'yokute'

This form can also be used to link two different clauses together in one sentence, like the ~te form of verbs (which I don't think I went over thus far).

Sono niwa wa yuumei de ookikute tanoshii da. = That garden is famous, big, and fun. (Like that made ANY sense.)
Kore wa ureshikute benri na neko desu. = This is a happy, useful cat. (I've stopped trying at this point.)

This form can also be put in the negative:

~NA adjectives: relying on 'da/desu' -> 'de wa nakute' or 'ja nakute'
~I adjectives: the 'i' becomes 'kunakute'
*'ii' becomes 'yokunakute'

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Adverbial Forms

To make an adjective an adverb, use these forms directly before a verb.
To change between informal/formal, positive/negative, past/present, it will rely on the verb here.

~NA adjectives: the 'na' changes to 'ni'
~I adjectives: the 'i' changes to 'ku'

Kare wa shinsetsu ni hanasu = He speaks kindly
Inu wa ureshiku hohoemu = The dog smiled happily

*'ii' becomes 'yoku'

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That's all the verb basics (yeah, basics). There isn't too much else to watch out for - the rest are considered grammar patterns, I suppose - things that usually affect nouns, adjectives, and verbs. (And unfortunetly there's like an billion of those. I'd pass you off here: http://www.timwerx.net/language/index.htm to learn them.) Hopefully all the adjective stuff made sense, I got kind of tired near the end.

Oh yes. And 愛しい means "itoshii" - "lovely, sweet" etc. lulz. ヾ(´仝´)

[Karin Rengu]

Thanks! That really helps! I can use these to study too! I think with all the help you've given me I'm ready to start trying to form sentences! I might ask if my sentences are correct now and then...

[gili90]

Here are some tips I want to share
Adjective does not contain a singular and plural form OR a masculine, femine and neuter form.
Adjectives are always the same!Do not add a final -s to an adjective.
You can add adjective at the end of sentence if they describe the subject. Example: His teacher is good.

[forgetyourwoes]

We just covered the adverb forms of adjectives in my Japanese class. Reading this was really a nice way to refresh my memory! ありがとうございます！