JLPT N5 · Adjectives and comparing · 27 of 60

Past adjectives: 高かった and 静かでした

高かった・静かでした takakatta, shizuka deshita Adjective past tense

い-adjectives change their ending for the past: 高い becomes 高かった. な-adjectives use でした. In English the adjective stays and "be" becomes "was".

Level: JLPT N5, beginner
Type: Adjectives and comparing
English links: past simple of be, adjectives, enjoy + object

What it means

The two adjective families make the past in different ways. An い-adjective changes its own ending: drop い and add かった. 寒い becomes 寒かった (was cold). Add です to be polite: 寒かったです. The です does not change.

A な-adjective works like a noun, so the past goes on です: 静かでした (was quiet). The negative past is 静かではありませんでした, or 静かじゃなかったです in speech.

Two traps. First, い-adjectives never take でした: 高いでした is a classic learner mistake. Second, いい becomes よかった, and its negative is よくなかった. よかった also means "That's a relief" or "I'm glad", and you will hear it all day in the staff room.

How to build it

Pattern	How it works
高い → 高かったです takai → takakatta desu	Drop い, add かった. Never 高いでした.
高い → 高くなかったです / 高くありませんでした takai → takaku nakatta desu / takaku arimasen deshita	Negative past. Both are polite.
いい → よかったです / よくなかったです ii → yokatta desu / yoku nakatta desu	いい is irregular in every form.
静か → 静かでした / 静かではありませんでした shizuka → shizuka deshita / shizuka dewa arimasen deshita	な-adjectives put the past on です, like nouns.

Examples

昨日は寒かったです。 kinou wa samukatta desu. It was cold yesterday.
テストは難しくなかったです。 tesuto wa muzukashiku nakatta desu. The test was not difficult.
旅行はとてもよかったです。 ryokou wa totemo yokatta desu. The trip was really good.
先週は忙しかったです。 senshuu wa isogashikatta desu. I was busy last week.
運動会の日はにぎやかでした。 undoukai no hi wa nigiyaka deshita. It was lively on sports day.

How English says it

English shows the past on "be" and never on the adjective: "It was cold", "They were busy", "The test wasn't difficult". The adjective "cold" is the same in every tense.

Feelings about the past often use a verb, not an adjective. 楽しかった is "I had a good time" or "I enjoyed it", and よかった can be "I'm glad" or "That's good".

Why it can make English hard

In Japanese the past sits inside the adjective, so students may feel the English adjective should carry it too. Some leave "be" in the present: "Yesterday is cold."
A Japanese adjective in the past can be a full sentence: 暑かった! English needs a subject and a verb: "It was hot!"
楽しかった is very common in diaries and speeches. Many students turn it into "I was enjoy" or "It was enjoy", mixing the verb "enjoy" with "be".

Mistakes you will hear

Yesterday is very cold. It was very cold yesterday. The past is in 寒かった, so the student forgets to change "be".
I was enjoy. I had a good time. (or: I enjoyed it.) From 楽しかったです. "Enjoy" is a verb and needs an object.
Hot yesterday. It was hot yesterday. 暑かった is a full sentence in Japanese. English needs "it was".

In the classroom

After a school event, ask "How was it?" Students answer with "It was ..." and one adjective. Write the best answers on the board.
Ban "I was enjoy" with a friendly rule: "enjoy" always needs a thing after it. "I enjoyed the trip", "I enjoyed it".
For diaries, give a frame: "Yesterday was ... . I had a ... time. The ... was ... ." It covers the most common past adjective sentences.

Practice

Try each one, then open it to check.

1. Make it past: おもしろいです。

Answer: おもしろかったです。

Drop い, add かった, keep です.
2. Make it past: いいです。

Answer: よかったです。

いい is irregular. The past comes from よい.
3. Make it past: 元気です。

Answer: 元気でした。

元気 is a な-adjective, so the past goes on です.
4. A student writes "The party was very enjoy." Fix it.

Answer: The party was very enjoyable. (or: I really enjoyed the party.)

"Enjoy" is a verb. Use the adjective "enjoyable", or use "enjoyed" as the verb.