Problems with adjectives

[mangara99]

Hello mina-san,

I was trying to write a tale in japanese and then this doubt came up, the tale's name is Goldilocks and the three bears.

When I was going to write the sentence: "Three bears lived in a little house in the middle of the forest", I didnt know wether to write 小さい家 or 小さな家.
深い森のなかの小さな家に３匹の熊が住んでいました。
Could someone please tell me whta's the difference and which is one is more appropiate in this case? Also, If there's another mistake Ill be very thankfyul to know.


Another question, whats the difference between an adjective ended in ～き and ～い,
I mean:
青い　青き
白い　白き
I dont remeber other examples right now but I've seen this structure several times.

Thank you so much!!

[QuackingShoe]

The difference between 小さい and 小さな is nuanced and in most cases probably irrelevant. But google around and try, like, http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa ... 1316778653 (the first answer is unhelpful.)

き as an ending for adjectives is classical/archaic. It's the same as the modern い, but only when modifying a noun (it can't predicate). In other words, if you know anything about the Japanese view on Japanese grammar, it's the old 連体形 (but NOT 終止形), which is only worth pointing out because in modern Japanese they're identical (and in English, taught as if they were the same thing).

For the record, the old 終止形 (for predicating) of adjectives was し, which you'll also still see from time to time. It's one reason you'll sometimes see なし, but the more common reason is that なし is also a completely different word (though it came from this old なし. よし is the same way.)