# 形動, 形容動詞, 名容詞, ナ形容詞



## AmaryllisBunny

What is the difference between these: 形動, 形容動詞, 名容詞, ナ形容詞

All I was able to gather is that all of these are "na-adjectives" —e.g., 綺麗

What is the difference in meaning?


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## wind-sky-wind

"形容動詞" is the most common, and "形動" is just the shortened form of it.
"形動" is mainly used in dictionaries for smaller space and never used in classrooms.
"ナ形容詞" is used by Japanese leaerners. Japanese people rarely use it.
"名容詞" is just used by a certain scholar who insists the term "形容*動*詞" is not appropriate.

I mean, this is just a matter of terms, and they are not different in meanings.


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## AmaryllisBunny

So just to be certain, "綺麗" fits under all of those terms. Is that correct?


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## M Mira

AmaryllisBunny said:


> So just to be certain, "綺麗" fits under all of those terms. Is that correct?


All those terms are different names for the same thing, like "taxi" and "cab" or "metro" and "subway", so you could say that.


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## AmaryllisBunny

Even though they are terms for the "same thing" (umbrella term), are there differences in nuance between each term?


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## 810senior

No, there aren't. That's basically a kind of adjective.


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## AmaryllisBunny

The other type of adjective would be "形容詞" right? Which would be like 「素晴らしい」？


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## 810senior

AmaryllisBunny said:


> The other type of adjective would be "形容詞" right? Which would be like 「素晴らしい」？



That's right. In addition to the fact that each one's conjugation is definitely different.
Japanese language has two types of adjective: 形容動詞(ending with -da) and 形容詞(ending with -shii or simple -i).


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## AmaryllisBunny

Ah, because in most classes they teach "形容動詞" as "na-adjectives" and "形容詞" as "i-adjectives" in which the second one can be conjugated in tenses (but not moods). The first, must use the copula whereas the second uses it for "丁寧語"—e.g., 美味しかったです.

In linguistics books, I've seen "形容詞" described as a verbal (adjective) and the other, "形容動詞" described as a nominal adjective. Is this distinction made in Japanese? Perhaps? Since "動詞" refers to verb/verbal?


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## Shiratori99

AmaryllisBunny said:


> Ah, because in most classes they teach "形容動詞" as "na-adjectives" and "形容詞" as "i-adjectives" in which the second one can be conjugated in tenses (but not moods). The first, must use the copula whereas the second uses it for "丁寧語"—e.g., 美味しかったです.
> 
> In linguistics books, I've seen "形容詞" described as a verbal (adjective) and the other, "形容動詞" described as a nominal adjective. Is this distinction made in Japanese? Perhaps? Since "動詞" refers to verb/verbal?



Yeah, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjectival_noun_(Japanese)

In Japanese school grammar, the copula だ is considered to be the inflection of a 形容動詞. And since だ is a verb, this is why they're called 形容*動詞*.


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## frequency

AmaryllisBunny said:


> All I was able to gather is that all of these are "na-adjectives" —e.g., 綺麗


AB, 綺麗 is an adjective.
When it's +な adjective, add it to a noun:
綺麗な花
綺麗な顔
(attributive)

When 綺麗？
この花は綺麗だ
あなたの顔は綺麗だ
(predicative)


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