Minnasan Konnichiwa!! みなさん、こんにちは! :D
Several Rocket Japanese learners have asked me concerning the difference between an _*I*-adjective_ that ends in *__i__*, like
*aka__i__*, *shiro__i__*, *atataka__i__*, *samu__i__*
AND..._*I*-adjective_ that ends in *__kute__*, like
*aka__kute__*, *shiro__kute__*, *atataka__kute__*, *samu__kute__*
Let's look at the function of *__kute__ *when added to i-adjectives. What does it do? Is there are similar expression in English? - Yes there is! :lol:
I'm sure you are already familiar that the mini-particle *__to__* in Japanese means "and" when it comes between two nouns. Such as *Ringo TO Meron* _"Apple AND Melon"_. What if we want to connect two or more Adjectives together?
This is where the ending *__kute__* comes to use. By dropping the last *__i__ *from an i-adjective and replacing it with *__kute__*, we can say something is _big __AND__ tall_, or _small __AND__ short_. That's right, *__kute__* is simply the "and" of Adjectives, just like *__to__ * is the "and" for nouns.
Take a look at the chart below:
__*I-Adjective*-----------------*Kute-form of Adjective*__
Ōkii (Big)---------------------Ōkikute (Big and…)
Chīsai (Small)----------------Chīsakute (Small and…)
Akai (Red)--------------------Akakute (Red and…)
Oishii (Delicious)------------Oishikute (Delicious and…)
When two I-adjectives are used to describe a particular item, the first one is changed to the Kute-form, while the second one remains in its original i-adjective form.
_The suitcase is __big__. It is also __red__._
*__Ōkii__sūtukēsu desu. __Akai__ sūtsukēsu desu. *
:arrow: Now, with KUTE, we can add both descriptions into one phrase.
_The suitcase is big __AND__ red. _
*Ōki__KUTE__ akai suutsukeesu desu. *
_The restaurant is __cheap__. It also has __delicious__ meals._
*__Yasui__ resutoran desu. __Oishii__ resutoran desu. *
:arrow: Putting both "cheap" and "delicious" into one sentence...
_The restaurant is cheap __AND__ delicious._
*Yasu__KUTE__ oishii resutoran desu.*
:D That's it for today's brief lesson on the important function of *__KUTE__*.
See you again! Mata oaishimashou! :wink:
Listing Multiple I-Adjectives

Sayaka-Matsuura
November 26, 2008