Part I - Adjectives
In Japanese, the adjectives work a little differently than in English. One main way they differ is in the fact that there are two flavors of adjectives, the い-adjective and the な-adjective
Ex. い-adjectives
高い (たかい/takai) 高い時計 (たかいとけい/takai tokei) an expensive watch
な-adjectives
便利な (べんりな/benri na) 便利な道具 (べんりなどうぐ/benri na dougu) a handy tool
Another way that Japanese adjectives differ from ENglish adjectives is that they actually conjugate just like verbs do. So tense, polarity, all that stuff; you have to take that into account when you're using them in written and spoken Japanese. Fun, fun.
Now, the two types of adjectives don't conjugate the same way. In fact, one set conjugates a heck of a lot easier than the other. Let's do the hard stuff first.
い-adjective conjugation
高い (たかい/takai)
Present たかいです (aff.) たかくありません (neg.)
Past たかかったです (aff.) たかくありませんでした (neg.)
The thing to notice here is the tail end of the adjective. That's what changes. In the present negative, the final い changes to くありません. Not that bad. What's tricky is the past tense. In the past affirmative, the final い changes to かったです, which is a past+affirmative format (not to mention a mouthful with certain adjectives). But in the past negative, the final い changes to くありませんでした, which is a negative+past format. So, essentially, い-adjective conjugation is confusing and slightly retarded.
Ex. 犬はかわいくありませんでした。
(Inu wa kawaikuarimasen deshita.)
The dog [I met/saw] was not cute.
猫はこわくありません。
(Neko wa kowakuarimasen.)
The cat is not scary.
What's more about い-adjectives (that actually relates it to English) is that they contain an exception to the rule. That exception is the adjective いい (ii/good). The first い is changed to よ in all its conjugation patterns except the present affirmative.
いい (irregular)
Present いいです(aff.) よくありません (neg.)
Past よかったです (aff.) よくありませんでした (neg.)
Fortunately, we get a bit of a break with the な-adjectives. They're really simple and all follow the same pattern. (Note: You always drop the な from the adjective during conjugation.)
便利な (べんりな/benri na)
Present べんりです (aff.) べんりじゃありません (neg.)
Past べんりでした (aff.) べんりじゃありませんでした (neg.)
Pretty easy to follow as compared to the い-adjectives (thankfully).
