N3 Adjectives List - Let’s Pass the JLPT!

The more you study Japanese, the more adjectives you learn to describe specific situations. Here are 80 adjectives you should know for the N3 JLPT test!

Table of Contents

1. N3 I-adjectives
   1. N3 I-adjectives List
2. N3 Na-adjectives
   1. N3 Na-adjectives List

At the N3 level, you will start to learn words that have similar meanings with a slightly different nuance and thus different uses. 

As you expand your vocabulary, it’s important to learn how to use these adjectives to best describe your feelings and/or the people and situations around you.

At this point, you are probably more comfortable with how to use and conjugate adjectives (using them in their negative forms, etc.) but if you need to review, please check out the conjugation charts and explanations in our N5 adjectives article. 

N3 I-adjectives

As your vocabulary becomes more sophisticated, it’s important to understand the slight nuance between words in order to use them in the correct situations. 

For example, take a look at the following. 

• さわがしい (sawagashii)

• そうぞうしい (souzoushii)

• やかましい (yakamashii)

These can all be translated as “noisy” in English. How are they different? 

さわがしい and そうぞうしい use the same kanji (騒) and are quite similar. They can both be used to objectively describe a situation where things are noisy because of people talking and general noise. However, そうぞうしい is used strictly to describe a noisy venue or location, and not individual people, whereas さわがしい can be used to describe both people, situations and places. 

やかましい is used to describe noisy people and has a negative connotation. It can be said to people who are annoying you with their incessant and/or loud talking. 

In this way, in N3, you must understand connotation and TPO (time, place, occasion) to use the new vocabulary. 

N3 I-adjectives List

Here are 35 i-adjectives at the N3 level.

Note: The kanji you need to know are bolded. (There are also words in our N4 and N5 article that you will now need to know the kanji for, so it’s a good idea to go back and review those lists as well.) 

Writer's Pick

10 Must-See Japan Autumn Festivals

Japanese Culture

What is Tori no Ichi (酉の市)? The Rooster Market Festival in Japan

Japanese Culture

A Second Home: Interview with Filipinos Living & Working in Kumamoto,...

Life in Japan

Japan Autumn Fashion - What to wear during autumn in Japan?

Japanese Culture

Halloween in Japan : How does Japan celebrate Halloween?

Japanese Culture

N3 Na-adjectives

As mentioned above in the i-adjectives section, it’s important to learn how to differentiate between words with similar meanings. Some are interchangeable, but others are used for very specific situations. 

Let’s take a look at these two words: 

• 冷静 (reisei)

• 穏やか (odayaka)

Both can be translated to “calm” in English. However, they are very different types of calm.

冷静 is strictly used to describe people. If someone is 冷静, they are calm and collected. They are able to calmly and logically deal with situations while keeping a cool head. 

穏やか however has an element of gentleness. An 穏やか person is calm and gentle - someone you can feel at ease around. 穏やか can also describe the atmosphere of a room or situation, as well as things like music and the flow of water (such as a river). 

N3 Na-adjectives List

Here are 45 na-adjectives you should know at the N3 level.

Note: The ones you need to know the kanji for are bolded. You'll notice there's a lot more words in bold than previous lists! (There are also words in our N4 and N5 article that you will need to know the kanji for when using them at the N3 level, so it’s a good idea to go back and review those lists as well.)