Combination of 2 adjectives with “~te”
As promise yesterday, today I will cover the first part of using “~te” form. It is to combine 2 adjectives in 1 sentence. Here we go!!!
This string. Strong string – Hosoi ito desu. Tsuyoi ito desu.
The string is thin but strong – Hosokute tsuyoi ito desu.
Thin magazine. Interesting magazine. – Usui zasshi desu. Omoshiroi zasshi desu.
The magazine is thin but interesting – Usukute omoshiroi zasshi desu
Old Temple. Famous Temple. – Furui Otera. Yuumei na otera.
The temple is old but famous. – Furukute yuumei na otera desu.
Meaning : Hosoi (Thin – Use for human, long item), Tsuyoi (Strong), Usui (Use for books, papers), Zasshi (Magazine), Omoshiroi (Interesting), Otera (Temple)
You can also combine Adjectives + Verbs. Example : Kono kuruma wa takakute kaenai desu (I couldn’t buy this car because it is too expensive).
Yesterday, I covered the conversion from Verbs to ~te form (ie. Kaku >> Kaite). Today I will show you how to convert adjective into ~te form as shown in the examples above.
| Normal Form Remove the “i” and replace by “kute” Takai (Expensive) Omoi (Heavy) Hayai (Fast) Warui (Bad / Poor) Muzugashii (Difficult) Oishii (Delicious) Special adjectives where you have add a “de” at the end |
~te form
Takakute Shizukade |
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July 24th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
so, would you say that when one uses a て to combine adjectives, it means “and or but” and not like situations in English where one uses a comma between adjectives (tall, quiet men)?
Hopefully your response will auto email to me.
July 24th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Hi Claytonian,
Translating from Japanese to English is difficult sometime :D. By the way, the following is a detail for the lesson above
Japanese : Hosokute tsuyoi ito desu.
This is used when you are mentioning something which is weak but it has it strong point. In the above example : The string is thin (Hosoi) (most people would immediately think the string is weak because it is thin). Although it is thin but it’s strong (Tsuyoi).
So to say that the string is thin (negative) but it is strong (positive) in japanese = Hosokute tsuyoi ito desu
I hope the explanation could give you a clear idea.
July 24th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
thank you
so do you think “tall, quiet men” translates as “高い、静かな男”? or would you say it in the style of this lesson, and say, “高くて静かな男”? Probably the first one, right?
by the way, does this blog have a feed?
July 24th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Hi Claytonian,
Yes, you can use 高くて静かな男.
September 9th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Hey man, need your help again.
Can I say
“Fuji san wa takai NO yama desu”
and
“Ano aoi NO kasa desu”
or should I not include the “No” like how the textbook shown?
Another question which I would like to know is,
1. Kirei ja arimasen
2. Kirei dewa arimasen
I understand that both “Ja” and “Dewa” can be used but what I would like to know is, which is most use in Japan? Ja or Dewa?
September 9th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
For first question, you shouldn’t include the “NO”.
For 2nd question: “dewa” = polite form ; “ja” = normal form
September 9th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Oh, I get it. Thanks buddy
September 9th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Anyway, why cant I add “No” for those sentences? Just curious.
September 9th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
With the “NO”, it will be Blue’s Umbrella – incorrect
Without “NO”, it will be Blue Umbrella – correct
September 9th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
How many meaning can “Sou desu ka” means?
September 11th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Hey man, shitsumon ga arimasu.
Nara wa kireina machi desu
Nara wa shizukana machi desu
Nara wa furui machi desu
Nara wa ii machi desu
But can I say
Nara no machi was kirei desu
Nara no machi wa shizuka desu
Nara no machi wa furui desu
Nara no machi wa ii desu
September 11th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
And by the way buddy. How to say “I am not holding a job currently” in Japanese?
September 11th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Hi, yes you can use that.
Watashi wa genzai hataraite imasen
September 11th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Thanks buddy.
September 11th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Hey buddy, I understand that it is correct to say
Kireina hana o kaimashita
but is it right if I use “no” rather than “na”?
Kirei no hana o kaimashita
September 11th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
No, you can’t. “No” express as something belongs to something.
Kirei na hana = beautiful flower
If you add a “no” then it would be beautiful’s flower – sounds funny, right.
September 11th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Haha yeah, thanks again mate.
January 18th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Hi Tony,
Can you please tell me the difference between kawanai and kaenai as both seems to be the negative form of kau.
January 18th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Hi Mark,
Kawanai (Positive=Kau) = Don’t buy
Kaenai (Positive=Kaeru) = Won’t buy
January 18th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Hi you there, I have a question, I want to write some sentences with this form:
The boy is young and tall.
The woman is rich and old.
The man is poor and short.
I don’t really understand how to do that.
I’ll appreciate some help.
January 19th, 2010 at 7:11 am
Thanks Tony, are there similar forms for other verbs as well? Example ‘kaku’, kakanai- don’t write. Is there a term for won’t write?
January 19th, 2010 at 9:59 am
>> Mark
Every verb can be converted
Kaku – Kakanai (don’t write) ; Kakenai (won’t write)
Hanashi (talk) = Hanasanai ; Hanasenai
>> Zagan
The boy is young and tall.
Kono otokonoko wa wakakute, se ga takai desu
The woman is rich and old.
Kono jōsei wa okane mochi de, toshi totte imasu
The man is poor and short.
Kono otoko wa mazushikute, se ga hikui desu
January 19th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Thanks a lot
When you use “i”-adjectives and want to combine two of them, whe use the “te” ending.
And if is a “na”-adjective you combine them with “de”.
Am I correct?
Thanks in advance.
January 19th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
If you could provide example, it would be better.
January 19th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
Here:
私は貧乏で背が高いです。
and
この女の子は若くて背が高いです。
Is this sentence correct?
この女の人は金持ちでやせています。
Thanks in advance.
January 19th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
Do you mean, this woman is rich but getting thinner?
January 19th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
uupps, no
I want to say something like this:
This woman is A and B.
Where A and B could be any adjective.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
In this case, you can’t use “~te imasu”. “desu” should be used.
この女の人は金もちで、細いです。
April 8th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Hi Tony, I have read the article and comments, but for some reason the exact use of the te-form keeps slipping through my fingers.
As I understand, combining two adjectives can result in two different meanings. If we take your example:
古くて有名なお寺です。
It is translated as “The temple is old but famous.” But couldn’t it also be interpreted as “The temple is old AND famous”?
If the two adjectives can be interpreted as opposites or contradictory (グリーンランドは寒くてきれいです。, the te-form means “but”. But if the two adjectives can be thought of as in the same family the te-form can mean “and” (花は青くてきれいです) Am I on a wrong track here?
April 8th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
Hi Lars, using “and” is not wrong. You are absolutely on the right track. Well, I have to admit that sometime translating from Japanese to English is not that easy. It depends on how you want to translate the sentence and also the English power of oneself.
For example: この車は高くて買えないです is translated as “I couldn’t buy this car because it is too expensive” or “This car is expensive and I can’t (afford to) buy”.
April 8th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
Thank you so much for clarifying this for me:) Think I’m beginning to get the hang of the te-concept.
March 31st, 2011 at 2:15 am
I am just wondering. I am used to reading that nouns should be placed at the beginning of the sentence but yours is noun at the end. Any difference?
March 31st, 2011 at 5:05 pm
Hi Anna, I’m not quite understand what you mean. Can you give some examples. Thanks
March 31st, 2011 at 9:58 pm
Hi Tony, in this sentence “Hosokute tsuyoi ito desu”. The noun “ito” can we placed in front of the sentence coz usually wen I study japanese nouns are usually placed at the beginning of a sentence. “Ito wa hosokute tsuyoi desu”?
Any difference?
April 1st, 2011 at 7:05 pm
Hi Anne, Both can be used whether front or back.
July 25th, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Tony, can you enlighten me on the difference between tabenai and tabenakute form? I am so lost in that area after discovering about the kute form.
Thanks alot!
July 25th, 2011 at 6:17 pm
It depends on the sentences
Example:
Ie ni konakute mo ii (It is OK for not coming to my house)
You cannot use “Ie ni konai mo ii” although most Japanese understands what it means but not proper.
December 3rd, 2011 at 1:23 pm
I think that の can be used for ‘s (s’) AND it can be used as the word “of”. (I’m not good at kanji, so bear with me)
つこみさんのほん = Tsukomi’s Book OR the Book of Tsukomi.
ちいさいはなのいもうと = The small nose of my sister, or The small flower’s sister. (For those who don’t know, はな means both nose and flower)
It’s really quite confusing when you think about it.
I also wanted to comment on the Kau/Kaeru thing.
Whats funny is that Kaeru can mean Frog, to return and is the “can” form of buy. There is no real term for WON’T BUY because WON’T is a future tense (it makes more sense when you de-contract it, will not) and Japanese doesn’t have a definite future tense. Doesn’t and Won’t are the same thing Kau. Kaeru means you CAN buy it. (and of course it also means from and to return)
May 23rd, 2012 at 11:15 pm
Hey guys, I need help with the following sentence: Kono kuruma wa takakute kaenai desu (I couldn’t buy this car because it is too expensive).
I would translate it as: This car is expensive but I didn’t buy it. But it makes no sense.
I hope you can explain how to translate this sentense properly step by step.
July 23rd, 2015 at 4:41 pm
Hi I have a question. what will be japanese for following sentence …Weather is not cold but pleasant. Please also help me to understand the Grammatical rule here.Thanks in Advance
March 27th, 2016 at 10:18 am
Hi tony. how do you say in Japanese “Japanese people are friendly and polite in te form?
1)Can we say “nihonjin wa teineide desu”
2)And how you say friendly and polite in one sentence?
Thank you!
March 27th, 2016 at 10:31 am
You can use
Nihonjin wa yasashi (優しい) desu
March 27th, 2016 at 10:47 am
thank you!
March 28th, 2016 at 10:33 am
Hi Tony. I have another question to ask on formation of kaenai (present negative form of kaeru). using some rule on verb conjugation I can only get to kaeranai. I have no problem getting to kawanai from normal form of kau (class 1 verb) . Is kaeru classified as class 1 or class 2 verb? I understand it to be under class 1 exceptionally. so I should get to kaeranai. However if it is classified under Class 2 then kaenai is correct. Can help to explain? tk u!