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This is an example from an iPhone app called Tae Kim's learning Japanese:

子供だったアリスが立派な大人になった。 - The Alice that was a child became a fine adult.

The part "fine adult" or "立派な大人" confuses me. The "な" between 立派 and 大人, what
is it? A particle, part of the word 立派 or what?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-08T16:14:12.190
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2013-12-08T16:41:27.677
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question
english-to-japanese
What role does な play in the sentence
立派 is a 形容動詞 or adjectival noun. As 立派 alone, it is a noun essentially meaning
"fineness". It needs the な after it to let it modify other nouns such as 大人 to
turn it into "fine adult".

If you're using Tae Kim's guide, I would suggest you go back a couple sections
and check out this page:
<http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/adjectives>
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-08T16:41:27.677
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2013-12-08T16:41:27.677
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answer