い Adjective Tongue Twister
“Freshly-fried flying fish.”
I’d feel bad if I kept this from you. It’s like a Japanese language rite of passage in many classes, in many ways (and an opportunity to check on some tough pronunciation).
There’s one particular い adjective that gets tricky, especially when conjugated.
a あたたかい
warm
In present/future form, it isn’t all that bad. Sure, the double た might be a little difficult, but nothing you can’t handle. It’s when you conjugate it that makes it tricky.
a あたたかい
warm
a あたたかかった
was warm
a あたたかくない
not warm
a あたたかくなかった
was not warm
Remember, when conjugating the い adjectives, it’s only the い at the end that you change. The reason this one is hard is because there’s so many repeating kana one after each other. Go through them one by one and see if you can do it. Then, for fun, see if you can do all of them at once!
a あたたかい、あたたかかった、あたたかくない、あたたかくなかった
Fail!
Before moving on, at least be able to do them all individually. Listen to the word, read the word carefully, then say it out loud. When you can do it with each, move on to the next page. Let’s wrap adjectives up, for now!