短い
みじかい
short (length)
i-adjective
Conjugation Table
Present
短い
Negative
短くない
Past
短かった
Past Negative
短くなかった
Te Form
短くて
Adverbial
短く
Conditional
短ければ
Presumptive
短いでしょう
Example Sentences
このペンは短いです。
This pen is short.
Kono pen wa mijikai desu.
彼の髪は短くないです。
His hair is not short.
Kare no kami wa mijikakunai desu.
昨日の授業は短かったです。
Yesterday's class was short.
Kinou no jugyou wa mijikakatta desu.
Grammar Notes & Usage Tips
•Conjugation Basics**: 短い is an i-adjective, so to make it negative, just drop the い and add くない, becoming 短くない (みじかくない) for "not short."
•Describing Nouns**: When using 短い to describe a noun, place it directly before the noun, like in 短い髪 (みじかいかみ) for "short hair."
•Particle Pairing**: When talking about something being short in length, use が to indicate what is short, as in 彼の話が短い (かれのはなしがみじかい) meaning "his story is short."
•Comparative Forms**: To say "shorter," use 短い followed by より, as in 彼の髪は私の髪より短い (かれのかみはわたしのかみよりみじかい), meaning "His hair is shorter than mine."
•い-adjective: Conjugates by changing the い ending