Understanding Negative Sentences in Japanese
In Japanese, making a sentence negative is a bit different from English. Instead of adding a word like 'not', you change the ending of the verb or the adjective. Let's learn how to do that!
To make verbs negative in Japanese, you usually change the verb ending. For verbs that end in -ます (masu), you change it to -ません (masen).
Examples
- 食べます (tabemasu) -> 食べません (tabemasen)
- 行きます (ikimasu) -> 行きません (ikimasen)
- 見ます (mimasu) -> 見ません (mimasen)
Adjectives in Japanese also change to become negative. For -い (i) adjectives, you drop the -い and add -くない (kunai).
Examples
- 高い (takai) -> 高くない (takakunai)
- 新しい (atarashii) -> 新しくない (atarashikunai)
- 大きい (ookii) -> 大きくない (ookikunai)
Negative Nouns and Na-Adjectives
For nouns and na-adjectives, you add じゃない (janai) to make them negative. It's like saying 'is not'.
Examples
- 学生 (gakusei) -> 学生じゃない (gakusei janai)
- きれい (kirei) -> きれいじゃない (kirei janai)
- 先生 (sensei) -> 先生じゃない (sensei janai)
Common Negative Sentence Structures
Important Points
- Verbs: Change -ます to -ません
- I-Adjectives: Change -い to -くない
- Nouns and Na-Adjectives: Add じゃない
Now you know how to make sentences negative in Japanese! Remember, it's all about changing the endings or adding a little extra to the word. Practice with these examples and you'll get the hang of it.