For example, in {kirei na} neko 綺麗な猫, "a cat [that] {is pretty}," and {shaberu} neko しゃべる猫, "a cat [that] {talks}," the phrases kirei na 綺麗な and shaberu しゃべる are in the rentaikei.
Conjugation
For reference, how to conjugate the rentaikei.| no de no ni | |
| Irregular Verbs | |
| kuru くる | kuru くる |
| suru する | suru する |
| Godan Verbs | |
| kau 買う | kau 買う |
| kaku 書く | kaku 書く |
| oyogu 泳ぐ | oyogu 泳ぐ |
| korosu 殺す | korosu 殺す |
| katsu 勝つ | katsu 勝つ |
| shinu 死ぬ | shinu 死ぬ |
| asobu 遊ぶ | asobu 遊ぶ |
| yomu 読む | yomu 読む |
| kiru 切る | kiru 切る |
| Ichidan Verbs | |
| kiru 着る | kiru 着る |
| taberu 食べる | taberu 食べる |
| Adjectives | |
| kawaii 可愛い | kawaii 可愛い |
| kirei na 綺麗な | kirei na 綺麗な |
| Jodoushi 助動詞 | |
| masu ます | masu ます |
| desu です | desu です |
In modern Japanese, the rentaikei is almost identical to the shuushikei 終止形. There are only a few differences.
For na-adjectives, the rentaikei is composed by the attributive copula na な, while the shuushikei is composed by the predicative copula da だ.
The polite jodoushi desu です and masu ます do have a rentaikei, but it's only used in exceptional cases.
Grammar
The rentaikei is the form that comes before nouns (prenominal form), in order to attribute them qualities (attributive form) like an adjective would (adjectival form). Hence why people can call it so many different things in English.In modern Japanese, most words have identical rentaikei and shuushikei forms. The only difference between them is that the rentaikei comes before nouns, but the shuushikei doesn't. Observe:
- gakusei ga manabu
学生が学ぶ
The student studies.- gakusei - noun.
- manabu - shuushikei.
- {manabu} gakusei
学ぶ学生
The student [that] {studies}.- manabu - rentaikei.
With na-adjectives, the rentaikei uses na な, while the shuushikei uses da だ.
- ano gakusei wa baka da
あの学生は馬鹿だ
That student is stupid.- baka - na-adjective.
- da だ - shuushikei.
- {baka na} gakusei
馬鹿な学生
A student [that] {is stupid}.
A stupid student.- na な - rentaikei.
Note: when a noun modifies another noun, we say that the noun is in the genitive case. In Japanese, the no の particle is the genitive case marking particle. Adjectives created in this manner are called no-adjectives.
- ano gakusei wa ningen da
あの学生は人間だ
That student is a human.- ningen - noun.
- {ningen no} gakusei
人間の学生
A student [that] {is a human}.
A human student.- ningen no - no-adjective.
This works the same way as na な. See: no の attributive copula. However, in traditional Japanese grammar, na な is a rentaikei, while no の is a particle.
Furthermore, note that na な also has other functions in Japanese, one of which is, indeed, a particle.
- kirei da na
綺麗だな
[It] is pretty, huh.- da だ - shuushikei.
- na な - sentence-ending particle.
For i-adjectives, both forms are identical, too.
- natsu ga atsui
夏が暑い
The summer is hot. - {atsui} natsu
暑い夏
The summer, [which] {is hot}.
The hot summer.
In old Japanese, the rentaikei of such adjectives can end in ~ki ～き, ~karu ～かる, and you can sometimes see these forms in titles of movies, books, and so on. For example:
- Ie Naki Ko
家なき子
Child Without Home.- {ie no nai} ko
家のない子
A child [who] {doesn't have a home}.
- {ie no nai} ko
- Utsukushiki Zankoku na Sekai
美しき残酷な世界
Beautiful Cruel World.- ED song of Shingeki no Kyojin 進撃の巨人.
- Waga Yoki Tomo Yo
我が良き友よ
My Good Friend.
Usage
The rentaikei is used every time an adjective or relative clause modifies a noun.This includes, in particular, when a jodoushi modifies a noun. For example, the past form is composed by the ren'youkei 連用形 plus the ~ta ～た jodoushi. When this ~ta ～た jodoushi is modifying a noun, it's in the rentaikei.
- hon wo katta
本を買った
[I] bought the book.- ~ta ～た - shuushikei.
- {hon wo katta} hito
本を買った人
The person [who] {bought the book}.- ~ta ～た - rentaikei, since it comes before the noun hito.
In Japanese, some words, called formal nouns, are syntactically nouns, but have rather grammatical functions. Nevertheless, since they're syntactically nouns, the rentaikei is used with them.
- {hon wo katta} toki
本を買ったとき
The time [when] {[I] bought the book}.
When {[I] bought the book}.- The noun toki, "time," translates to English naturally as "when."
- {{hitsuyou na} toki ni} tsukau
必要なときに使う
To use [it] {at a time [when] {[it] is necessary}}.
To use [it] {when {[it] is necessary}}.- Since toki is a noun, the rentaikei na な is used, not the shuushikei da だ.
Among these formal nouns, the most complicated one is the no の nominalizer. It's combined with other particles to form the conjunctions node ので, "because," and noni のに, "even though." Since it's a noun, what comes before it is the rentaikei na な.
- {kirei na} no de
綺麗なので
Because {[it] is pretty}. - {kirei na} no ni
綺麗なのに
Even though {[it] is pretty}.
This contrasts with words that are syntactically treated as conjunctions, like kara から, "because," and kedo けど, "though." Since these words aren't nouns, the rentaikei isn't used. The shuushikei is used instead.
- kirei da kara
綺麗だから
Because [it] is pretty. - kirei da kedo
綺麗だけど
Though [it] is pretty.
When nouns come before the no の nominalizer, the na な copula is used instead of the no の copula. This sounds random at first, but it's easy to remember because you're just avoiding using two no の one after the other.
- *ningen no no de
人間のので
(wrong.) - {ningen na} no de
人間なので
Because {[he] is a human}.
Polite Forms
In general, the polite jodoushi masu ます and desu です can't be used to modify nouns.- sono hito ga kirei desu
その人が綺麗です
That person is pretty. (polite.) - *kirei desu hito
綺麗です人
(wrong.)
This doesn't happen because the jodoushi don't have rentaikei forms. It happens because you just don't use polite forms to modify nouns.
Proof of this is that the past forms of these jodoushi can't be used to modify nouns either.
- *kirei deshita hito
綺麗でした人
(still wrong.)
The past form is headed by the ~ta ～た jodoushi, which does have a rentaikei.
- {kirei datta} hito
綺麗だった人
A person [that] {was pretty}.
If it was a matter of whether the jodoushi has a rentaikei or not, then we would be able to use deshita, since we can use datta, and both words end in ~ta.
However, we can use datta, but we can't use deshita, and the only difference between these two is that one is plain while the other is polite. Therefore, we can't use polite forms to qualify nouns, except in some specific cases.
Since node ので and noni のに act as conjunctions, it's somehow valid to use desu です and masu ます before them.
- {kirei desu} no de
綺麗ですので
Because {[it] is pretty}. (polite.) - {kirei desu} no ni
綺麗ですのに
Even though {[it] is pretty}. (polite.)
- {shirimasen deshita} no de
知りませんでしたので
Because {[I] didn't know about [it]}. (polite.)
Since no の is technically a noun, and desu です is coming before it above, that means what we have above is the rentaikei desu です, rather than the shuushikei desu です.
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