Japanese: Na vs No adjectives?

I came across na and no adjectives and they're kind of confusing. I'm not sure which particle to use when. Like the word 正常, I read that it's a no adjective and a na adjective. What's the difference?

Is -na a particle that can be added to any noun to make it an adjective (like the english -y/-ey?)

Thank you

Comments

  • Na basically functions in place of copula "da" in the middle of a sentence for na-adjectives when the adjective modifies a noun. The way I was taught about them was to think of them as nominals because they work the same way. As a predicate they take da, but as a modifier of another word it's na.

    So you would say something like "Kono mise wa yuumei da." (This shop is famous) or "Kore wa yuumei na mise da." (This is a famous shop).

    "No" Adjectives are technically adjectival nouns or nouns that modify other nouns, as if you use a noun to modify another, it would use no, like "Nihonjin no gakusei" (A Japanese student).

    There are some special words that can take either na or no. 正常 can take either I think.

  • Watashi wa nihongo ga ai suru!!! I like jap!!! =D lol anyway, "ku" i dont think has a significance within the adjective making it terrible, however "arimasen" does. Thats all i do know. Sorry! There are a lot of web pages with all this just google it and plenty of wesites must come up. Try to to find some good podcasts those are potent! Sorry for such lame advice! Hope it kinda helped =)

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