Language Help!

I've been studying Japanese in school...but my teacher was transferred back to Japan last semester!! ;;Dl
I can't remember the 'na' form for adjectives. l"OTL
It makes me feel stupid, not knowing this one thing. Can someone please help me?? ; A:
WHAT DO I DO WITH THE NA?

わたしは しんぱいな--WHAT? DO I ADD SOMETHING TO THE END OF THIS? D:
I know I have the notes, but I lost them and search engines do nothing to help me. l"OTL

I'm not quite sure what you mean ><

There are two categories of adjectives in Japanese. -i adjectives (adjectives that end in 'i' and don't require you to add anything after it when you want to describe a noun) and -na adjectives (adjectives that don't end in 'i' and require you to put 'na' after it when you want to describe a noun)

For starters, if you want to use a -na adjective with/to describe a noun, like きれい (yes, kirei is a -na adj, not an -i adj. It's one of the irregular cases) for example you need to add the na after the adjective.

So the adj is "kirei" and we'll use "girl" as the noun here.

So we want to say "A beautiful girl"...

In japanese that would be: きれいな女の子(です)。

Lets try other -na adjectives

じょうず = じょうずな女の子
苦手　= にがてな女の子


(I can't think of many -na adjs on the top of my head this moment o__o)...

compare it to an -i adjective:

かわいい　= かわいい女の子
ちいさい　= ちいさい女の子


Back to -na adjectives...

If you are not modifying an object, and just want to say "I am beautiful" you don't need the -na (as long as a noun doesn't follow)...

ex: わたしはきれいです。 (Don't actually say this, it sounds so arrogant XD)


But for your example... "わたしは しんぱいな" What exactly are you trying to say? しんぱい is often used in the form しんぱいする. If you want to say "I worry" then it is わたしはしんぱいします or 'I am worrying' then it is わたしはしんぱいしています... Or you might simple end it at わたしはしんぱいです。

There are more rules that go with -na adjectives but I can't explain it all to you in a coherent and clear manner.

So, the best way to learn correctly (that is, I'm just telling you my understanding of this so it might not be the best/the most correct information) is by buying a textbook if you don't already have one or searching google (its a quick google search away!!) for sites with lessons (:

Sorry if I've repeated info you already know. Best of luck!

Gah! Thank you. ; U;
I use a dictionary and my notes and that's about it, so a lot of the things I say in Japanese are probably confusing. l"OTL
These notes make a lot of sense though.

What I was trying to say wasn't even "I am worried", it was nervous. I was trying to say that I am nervous. I need to re-search my dictionary...but I'm saving everything you wrote down. o uo::; (Even the "I am beautiful" thing. Great advice. xDb )