So, I'm relatively new to Japanese and I'm learning. And I notice that some
words are paired with かった or だった, even though they're both for referencing
past. So, my question is: When is it appropriate to use かった and when do you
use だった? I'm sorry if this question is a completely rookie question. :v
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question
grammar conjugations adjectives tense
面白かった Vs. 有名だった
The 連用形{れんようけい} ("connecting form") of an _-i_ adjective + verbal auxiliary た
which indicates the past tense is かった like in 面{おも}白{しろ}かった.

The 連用形{れんようけい} of a _-na_ adjective + verbal auxiliary た which indicates past
tense is だった like in 有名{ゆうめい}だった.

And The 連用形{れんようけい} of verbal auxiliary だ which means "is" (i.e. it marks the
predicate) + verbal auxiliary た which indicates the past tense is だった like in
前{まえ}はその場所{ばしょ}は川{かわ}だった ("In the past, that place was a river").
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answer
**nouns**

だった (was) is the past tense of だ (to be).

卵｛たまご｝だ (it is an egg), 卵｛たまご｝だった (it was an egg).

There are two kinds of adjectives in Japanese the i-adjectives and the na-
adjectives.

**i-adjectives**

i-adjectives all end in い. e.g. 面白{おもしろ｝い (to be fun), 楽｛たの｝しい (to be
interesting), 速｛はや｝い (to be fast).

To make these adjectives past tense we remove the final い and replace it with
かった.

面白｛おもしろ｝かった (was interesting), 楽｛たの｝しかった (was fun), 速｛はや｝かった (was fast).

**na-adjectives**

na-adjectives are those which require な after them when they modify a noun.
e.g. 綺麗｛きれい｝ means "clean", but when it is used to modify a noun we have to
insert な.

綺麗｛きれい｝な部屋｛へや｝ means "a clean room". When we want to use these adjectives on
their own (i.e. not to modify a noun) then they behave like nouns and we use
だった.

部屋｛へや｝は綺麗｛きれい｝だった (the room was clean)

Note that just because an adjective ends in い it is not necessarily an
i-adjective. Most are, but there are some exceptions like きれい in this example.
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answer