Quiet in Japanese: shizuka, explained with its original adjective

How to say “quiet” in Japanese

Japanese people would use the word, “shizuka”. It is the Japanese word for ‘quiet’. In this blog post, I will explain this word based on its original adjective, “shizukana”. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meanings of “shizuka”
• Example #1: how to say “quiet” in Japanese
• Example #2: how to use “shizukana”
• Summary

Definition and meanings of “shizuka”

First of all, let me start with the definition and meanings of “shizuka”.

• shizuka – 静か (しずか) : one conjugation of the na-adjective, “shizukana”, which means ‘quiet’, ‘silent’, or ‘calm’ in Japanese.

In the Japanese language, nouns are often used as abbreviated forms of na-adjectives, because na-adjectives basically consist of one noun and one conjugative suffix. This means that conjugative suffixes of na-adjectives can be easily omitted. Actually, Japanese native speakers quite often omit conjugative suffixes especially in conversations. “Shizuka” is a typical example. This word itself can be considered as a stem part of the na-adjective, “shizukana”, and a noun meaning ‘being quiet’ in Japanese. In reality, however, Japanese people often use this as an abbreviated form of the na-adjective meaning ‘quiet’, ‘silent’, or ‘calm’. For this reason, the definition and meanings of “shizuka” can be updated as follows.

• shizuka – 静か (しずか) : an abbreviated form of “shizukana”, meaning ‘quiet’, ‘silent’, or ‘calm’ in Japanese.

These definition and meanings reflect the actual usage of this word, I think. Then, let me explain how to use this word through the example sentences below.

Example #1: how to say “quiet” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• kyou – 今日 (きょう) : a noun meaning ‘today’ in Japanese. Learn more about “kyou“.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as case marker or topic marker. In the example, it is put after the noun, “kyou”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
• totemo – とても : an adverb meaning ‘very’, ‘much’, or ‘so’ in Japanese. In the example, it is put before “shizuka” to emphasize its meaning.
• desu – です : an auxiliary verb put after a noun or adjective to make it polite. In the example, it is put after “shizuka” to make it sound polite.

This is a typical usage of “shizuka”. In this example, it is used to mean ‘quiet’ in Japanese. When we want to say “quiet” in Japanese, this word would be a very good choice in many cases.

Next, then, let me explain how to use the original na-adjective, “shizukana”, through the example sentence below.

Example #2: how to use “shizukana”

Below are new words used in the example sentence.

• kanojo – 彼女 (かのじょ) : a pronoun meaning ‘she’ in Japanese.
• shizukana – 静かな (しずかな) : a na-adjective meaning ‘quiet’, ‘silent’, or ‘calm’ in Japanese.
• hito – 人 (ひと) : a noun meaning ‘person’ in Japanese. Learn more about “hito“.

This is a typical usage of “shizukana”. In the example, it is put before the noun, “hito”, to describe it. In this regard, its usage is quite similar to that of the English adjective, “quiet”. It can also be put before a noun to describe it. So, Japanese learners, especially those who are familiar with the English language, can easily understand how to use “shizukana”, I think.

This example sentence can be paraphrased with “shizuka” as follows.

This sentence is also very understandable and acceptable. When we don’t need to use the noun, “hito”, in order to add the meaning of ‘person’ into a sentence, we can just say “shizuka”. This implies the fact that when “shizuka” is put before a noun, it cannot keep its abbreviated form any longer. It should be changed back to the full expression, “shizukana”. This is not unique to “shizuka” and “shizukana”, but also other abbreviated forms and their original na-adjectives as well. It’s worth knowing.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the word, “shizuka”, based on its original na-adjective, “shizukana”. And also, I’ve explained how to use them through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.

• shizuka – 静か (しずか) : an abbreviated form of “shizukana”, meaning ‘quiet’, ‘silent’, or ‘calm’ in Japanese. Japanese people often use this word instead of its original na-adjective especially in conversations. When it is put before a noun, it should be changed back to its original na-adjective in order to have a better connection with its following word.
• shizukana – 静かな (しずかな) : a na-adjective meaning ‘quiet’, ‘silent’, or ‘calm’ in Japanese. Japanese people quite often omit the conjugative suffix, “na”, and use the abbreviated form instead especially in conversations.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.