Is 左 a na-adjective, but 右 isnt?

左 is listed as a na-adjective, but 右 isnt. Is that an error, or is there some reason for this. Jisho lists them both as nouns.

2 Likes

Where do you see 左 listed like that?

It’s not in Jisho.

同じ is also listed as a na-adjective, but is a nous in jisho.

Here’s the thing about な adjectives: they’re pretty much nouns. な is pretty closely related to the だ copula.

3 Likes

left

1 Like

That says の adjective, not な

の adjective is basically a way to describe using a noun to modify another noun.

Though, sure, they should probably choose one way or the other for both the direction words. An email should resolve it.

8 Likes

That says adjective. And you can put の in front of almost any noun so it’s usually not consistent when listed like that.

:smiley: Right, my bad :expressionless:

1 Like

Didn’t know there were no-adjectives as well…

It’s a concept that only exists in teaching Japanese to non-natives. It’s not used in native grammar, and sometimes it’s not used in resources for non-natives either.

4 Likes

Then how about 同じ? this one’s listed as na-adjective on wk, but as “Noun or verb acting prenominally” on jisho. Can it be used with -na, or is that not when makes it a na-adjective?

1 Like

It is in fact classified as a 形容動詞 in native grammar, which is the term that equates to what we call a な adjective. You can see this below.

However, it’s true that it typically gets used prenominally without な. This is kind of a special situation.

WK does provide examples of it prenominally without な.

4 Likes

Japanese (にっぽんご/にほんご), the uniform language :slight_smile:

1 Like

I guess it’s like the differences between British and American English…

1 Like

It makes more sense in Japanese. :wink:

Not even close. It’s closer to the difference between English and German and even that’s not a fair comparison.

I’ve never liked the term na-adjective, although it’s pretty commonly taught. I prefer “adjectival noun” because, well, it’s a noun.

4 Likes

I used na-adjective, since that’s what WK said.

What differences are we even talking about? There’s just one language in question here…

Pretty much every region has it’s own version of it though…

Wanikani is absolutely wonderful for learning Kanji. It’s woefully inadequate for learning grammar. Just look at the inconsistency of how 右 and 左 are labeled like you mentioned originally.

1 Like

Sure… but regional differences weren’t something we were discussing up to this point…