Why are some Adjitives with い accompinied with a な?

Why is one of these wrong, when the other is correct?

I can’t seem to figure out when I need to use the な when modifying a noun.

Edit: Answered, it’s actually a な adjective lol

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きれい, despite ending in an い is not actually an い adjective (in kanji, it’s written as 綺麗), which while it ends in the same kana, is not the same as やさしい(which can be written as 優しい and has that trailing い).

For now you’ll just have to remember that きれい is a tricky exception, but is actually a な adjective.

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OMG that’s right T^T. Adding that to my flash cards, thank you.

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Happy to help. :blush:

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There are a few adjectives that are confusing like that. One of my favourites is 頑な (かたくな : stubborn), which is a な adjective that ends in な, so when you modify a noun it looks like 頑なな人…

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And then there’s 大きい and 小さい, which for weird etymological reasons can also be used prenominally as 大きな and 小さな instead. Don’t ask me why.

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One would say that な is stubborn. :drum:

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