Japanese grammar and vocabulary

Common Japanese I-Adjectives

Browse adjectives that conjugate for positive, negative, past and non-past meaning.

Why are they called verbal adjectives?

Japanese i-adjectives can change their endings to express tense and polarity without adding a separate verb. For that reason, they are sometimes described as verbal or conjugating adjectives. Most end in い, although not every word ending in い belongs to this class.

Japanese i-adjective list

Choose “Conjugate” to view an adjective’s forms, or search for it in the example-sentence collection.

RomajiKanjiKanaEnglishConjugationExamples
abunai危ないあぶないdangerousConjugateFind sentences
akai赤いあかいredConjugateFind sentences
akarui明るいあかるいbrightConjugateFind sentences
amai甘いあまいsweetConjugateFind sentences
aoi青いあおいblueConjugateFind sentences
atarashii新しいあたらしいnewConjugateFind sentences
atatakai温かいあたたかいwarmConjugateFind sentences
atsui暑いあついhotConjugateFind sentences
chiisai小さいちいさいsmallConjugateFind sentences
chiisai小さいちいさいsmallConjugateFind sentences
chikai近いちかいnear, closeConjugateFind sentences
fukai深いふかいdeepConjugateFind sentences
furui古いふるいoldConjugateFind sentences
futoi太いふといthick - fatConjugateFind sentences
hayai速いはやいfastConjugateFind sentences
hayai早いはやいearlyConjugateFind sentences
hidoi酷いひどいawfulConjugateFind sentences
hikui低いひくいlowConjugateFind sentences
hiroi広いひろいwideConjugateFind sentences
hosoi細いほそいthin - fineConjugateFind sentences
isogashii忙しいいそがしいbusyConjugateFind sentences
itai痛いいたいpainfulConjugateFind sentences
karai辛いからいhot, spicyConjugateFind sentences
karui軽いかるいlight (not heavy)ConjugateFind sentences
kawaii可愛いかわいいcute, prettyConjugateFind sentences
kibishii厳しいきびしいstrictConjugateFind sentences
kiiroi黄色いきいろいyellowConjugateFind sentences
kitanai汚いきたないdirtyConjugateFind sentences
kowai怖いこわいfrighteningConjugateFind sentences
kurai暗いくらいdarkConjugateFind sentences
kuroi黒いくろいblackConjugateFind sentences
marui丸いまるいroundConjugateFind sentences
mazui不味いまずいbad tastingConjugateFind sentences
mezurashii珍しいめずらしいrareConjugateFind sentences
mijikai短いみじかいshortConjugateFind sentences
muzukashii難しいむずかしいdifficultConjugateFind sentences
nagai長いながいlongConjugateFind sentences
nemui眠いねむいsleepyConjugateFind sentences
nigai苦いにがいbitterConjugateFind sentences
oishii美味しいおいしいdeliciousConjugateFind sentences
omoi重いおもいheavyConjugateFind sentences
omoshiroi面白いおもしろいinteresting - funnyConjugateFind sentences
ookii大きいおおきいbigConjugateFind sentences
osoi遅いおそいlate, slowConjugateFind sentences
sabishii寂しいさびしいlonelyConjugateFind sentences
samui寒いさむいcoldConjugateFind sentences
semai狭いせまいnarrowConjugateFind sentences
shiroi白いしろいwhiteConjugateFind sentences
subarashii素晴らしいすばらしいwonderfulConjugateFind sentences
sugoi凄いすごいterrificConjugateFind sentences
suzushii涼しいすずしいcoolConjugateFind sentences
tadashii正しいただしいcorrectConjugateFind sentences
takai高いたかいexpensive, high, tallConjugateFind sentences
tanoshii楽しいたのしいenjoyable, funConjugateFind sentences
tsumaranai詰らないつまらないuninterestingConjugateFind sentences
tsumetai冷たたいつめたいcoldConjugateFind sentences
tsuyoi強いつよいstrongConjugateFind sentences
usui薄いうすいthinConjugateFind sentences
wakai若いわかいyoungConjugateFind sentences
yasashii優しいやさしいgentleConjugateFind sentences
yasui安いやすいcheapConjugateFind sentences
yawarakai柔らかいやわらかいtender - softConjugateFind sentences