How to connect adjectives in Japanese?

If you want to connect Japanese adjectives into a structure like “spacious and bright,” you cannot use the same particle と (transcribed to, meaning “and”) that you would use to create lists of nouns. Instead you’ll need to use an adjective-specific linking structure using…

• The te-form of an adjective (most common)

  広くて明るい

  Transcription: hirokute akarui

  Translation: spacious and bright

• The ku-form of an adjective

  広く明るい

  Transcription: hiroku akarui

  Translation: spacious and bright

• A sequence of normal adjectives before a noun

  広い明るい部屋

  Transcription: hiroi akarui heya

  Translation: a spacious, bright room

• The particle が (transcribed ga)

  その部屋は広いですが暗いです。

  Transcription: Sono heya wa hiroi desu ga kurai desu.

  Translation: The room is spacious but dark.

In this post, we’ll go through all the details of how to and when to use each structure to connect Japanese adjectives. We’ll also discuss what order you should use for Japanese adjectives. Should you say a “big blue box” or “a blue big box”? Let’s get started!

The most common and versatile way to connect two or more adjectives is to use the te-form. In a sequence of connected adjectives, all the adjectives but the last one should be in this form.

Each adjective has only one te-form, which does not change, regardless of the context. However, the last adjective in a te-adjective list is not in its te-form so it will be in whatever form it would usually have if it was the only adjective in the list.

You can use the te-form to connect all kinds of adjectives. But what is the te-form and how do you form it? Let’s have a look at how to do this with i-adjectives vs. na-adjectives!

You can sometimes choose to use the ku-form of an i-adjective (also known as the 中止形 (transcribed chūshikei)) in connected lists of adjectives. The sentence structure to use is the same as if you’d used the te-form: all but the last adjective will be in the ku-form. Using the ku-form just sounds more formal and is most often used in writing.

The ku-form of an i-adjective is, essentially, just the te-form without て (transcribed te). To form it, replace the i-adjective ending い (transcribed i) with く (transcribed ku), rather than くて (transcribed kute).

Before a noun, you can list connected adjectives without adding any conjunction or linking form. In this structure both adjectives take the form they would usually take before a noun, so i-adjectives are used in their dictionary form, while na-adjectives need to be followed by な (transcribed na).

We use が (transcribed ga, meaning “but”) to connect adjectives that we see as contradictory, usually in instances where you might use “but” in English.

You shouldn’t use the te-form in circumstances where the adjectives are considered contradictory:

In Japanese, some adjective orders will sound more natural than others. It’s just like how, in English, you would say “a large blue ballpoint pen,” but not “a ballpoint large blue pen,” even if both of them are technically grammatical.

In Japanese, adjectives generally occur in the following order:

Let’s look at some examples of adjectives that might belong to each of these categories.

But though the equation above captures the basic rules, there are some cases where you’ll need to make some changes to the way you link adjectives together, based on which groups they belong to. Let’s have a look at these special cases!

• Case #1: Multiple attribute adjectives

  You’ll often need to connect two or more different attribute adjectives. In this case, the word order is relatively free. We can also use a wide range of linking structures.

  	白い first	小さい first
  te-form	白くて小さいバラ Transcription: shirokute chiisai bara Translation: a white and little rose	小さくて白いバラ Transcription: chiisakute shiroi bara Translation: a little and white rose
  ku-form	白く小さいバラ Transcription: shirorku chiisai bara Translation: a white and little rose	小さく白いバラ Transcription: chiisaku shiroi bara Translation: a little and white rose
  sequence	白い小さいバラ Transcription: shiroi chiisai bara Translation: a white and little rose	小さい白いバラ Transcription: chiisai shiroi bara Translation: a little and white rose

  The above examples are all grammatically correct in Japanese, though you’re more likely to find the te-forms used in everyday speech.

  However, when connecting three or more attribute adjectives the first adjective will almost always be in the te-form in speech or the ku-form in writing.

  te-formprenominal formprenominal form

  ✅ 白くて小さい古風なバラが咲いています。

  Transcription: Shirokute chiisai kofūna bara ga saiteimasu.

  Translation: White (and) small, old-fashioned roses are in bloom.

  ku-formprenominal formprenominal form

  ✅ 白く小さい古風なバラが咲いています。

  Transcription: Shiroku chiisai kofūna bara ga saiteimasu.

  Translation: White (and) small, old-fashioned roses are in bloom.

  sounds like writing

  prenominal formprenominal formprenominal form

  🆗 白い小さい古風なバラが咲いています。

  Transcription: Shiroi chiisai kofūna bara ga saiteimasu.

  Translation: White, small, old-fashioned roses are in bloom.

  Technically, this is grammatical, but it would sound very odd to a native speaker.

• Case #2: Connecting adjectives that belong to different groups

  When connecting two adjectives that belong to different groups (e.g. a subjective evaluation + an attribute) we can’t use the te-form or ku-form. Instead, we always just use the adjectives in sequence.

  subjective evaluationattribute

  誕生日にすてきな黒いバッグをもらいました。

  Transcription: Tanjōbi ni sutekina kuroi baggu o moraimashita.

  Translation: I got a lovely black bag for my birthday.

  Uses prenominal forms for both adjectives.

  ❌ すてきで黒いバッグ

  Transcription: sutekide kuroi baggu

  The te-form is ungrammatical here!

  Here’s an example with three adjectives, all from different groups.

  varietysubjective evaluationattribute

  美術館でいろいろなすばらしい高価な宝石を見た。

  Transcription: Bijutsukan de iroirona subarashii kōkana hōseki o mita.

  Translation: At the art museum, I saw various wonderful, expensive jewels.

  Uses prenominal forms for all three adjectives.

  ❌ いろいろですばらしい高価な宝石

  Transcription: iroirode subarashii kōkana hōseki

  The te-form is ungrammatical here.

  ❌ いろいろですばらしくて高価な宝石

  Transcription: iroirode subarashikute kōkana hōseki

  The te-form is also ungrammatical on the second adjective!

• Case #3: A cause-effect relationship between adjectives

  When there is a cause-effect relationship between the adjectives we are connecting, the one that expresses the cause usually comes first regardless of the types. In this case, the te-form (or the ku-form in writing) is most often used.

  te-formeffect adjective

  ✅ 暖かくて快適な部屋に泊まった。

  Transcription: Atatakakute kaitekina heya ni tomatta.

  Translation: I stayed in a warm and comfortable room.

  The room was comfortable because it was warm.

  ku-formeffect adjective

  ✅ 暖かく快適な部屋

  Transcription: atatakaku kaitekina heya

  Translation: a warm and comfortable room

  sounds like writing

  prenominal formeffect adjective

  🆗 暖かい快適な部屋

  Transcription: atatakai kaitekina heya

  Translation: warm, comfortable room

  Technically this is grammatical, but it sounds strange, especially if you want to claim that the room is comfortable because it was warm.

In this article, we talked about how to make lists of adjectives in Japanese. Here are the main ways to do it!

• Most basic: Use the te-form for all the adjectives but the last one.

  広くて明るい

  Transcription: hirokute akarui

  Translation: spacious and bright

• In writing: Use the ku-form for all the adjectives but the last one.

  広く明るい

  Transcription: hiroku akarui

  Translation: spacious and bright

  Remember, only i-adjectives have a ku-form!

• Use a sequence of prenominal adjectives.

  広い明るい部屋

  Transcription: hiroi akarui heya

  Translation: a spacious, bright room

  Remember, you can’t do this after the noun!

We also discussed a couple basic generalizations for adjective order in Japanese:

Remember these three points on adjective order:

• Listing 3+ attribute adjectives → use the te-form / ku-form for the first.

• Listing adjectives of different types → don’t use the te-form / ku-form.

• When one adjective causes another → put the cause first, usually in its te-form.

Ready to practice? Check out our activities for connecting adjectives in Japanese! Happy learning!