Using Emotional and Sensational Adjectives Correctly in Japanese
Japanese is a very contextual language. Part of that means that depending on the situation certain words can be used and other words can not.
Why is Japanese so Hard: Simplifying Context
This also means that certain word forms can be used while others can’t depending on who the sentence is about. One area where context is critical in Japanese is when talking about adjectives related to emotions or sensations.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/INDEX
Adjectives for Emotions and Sensations in Japanese
Emotions or sensations in Japanese are any i-Adjectives that represent a sense or an emotion. For examples here are some emotions:
悲しい – sad
寂しい – lonely
嬉しい – happy
苦しい – painful, strenuous
欲しい –
And, below are some sensations:
美味しい – tasty
涼しい – cool
眠い – sleepy
痛い – painful
痒い – itchy
You can see that many adjectives for emotions and sensations end in しい. This is not a rule but it is a hint for the type of adjective.
Context and Adjectives for Emotions and Sensations
As I already mentioned depending on the context the way you use Adjectives for Emotions and Sensations will be different. In a nutshell, when you are talking about someone else you can’t use these adjectives as is. Take a look at the two examples sentences below to illustrate:
私はとても眠いです
I am very sleepy
In the sentence above the speaker or first person is who is tired. Meaning, if you were saying this about yourself it would be fine. However, if you were talking about John, it would be wrong. Instead, you would need to say something like, John looks tired, or I think John is tired.
ジョンはとても眠そうです
John looks very tired
In Japanese, the relationship between the speaker, listener, and a third person is very important. As you can see here, for emotional and sensation adjectives the means the speaker gets knowledge of the situation in the sentence is important. If the speaker is talking about themself then that is first-hand knowledge. However, if the speaker is talking about someone else they must specify if they are getting their knowledge from observation, hearsay, and so on.
How about Asking Questions?
So, if you are asking a question to someone then it is ok to use the verb as is. Let’s say we were asking John if he was tired. We could then just ask:
ジョン、眠いですか？
John, are you tired?
Here, we are not assuming any knowledge about John’s condition. We are only asking him how he is doing.
