hanamaru
Tell an adjective's type
い-adjectives end in い; な-adjectives take な before a noun — but a few い-ending words (きれい, ゆうめい) are actually な-adjectives.
JLPTN5
い-adjective or な-adjective?
Example Sentences
That mountain is tall, isn't it
The garden is pretty
Japanese has two kinds of adjective, no more: い-adjectives and な-adjectives. You learn the class the first time you inflect an い-adjective: い-adjectives keep their い and inflect on their own (たかい→たかかった), while な-adjectives add な before a noun and borrow です/でした like a noun does. A handful of words end in い but are secretly な-adjectives — きれい (pretty), ゆうめい (famous), きらい (disliked) — so you memorize the class per word instead of guessing from the ending.