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The way of turning 赤 into an adjective is adding い, but what does it mean when
instead of a い you put a く？

I found it in this phrase:

> 私のリンゴは赤くありません。

I get the meaning but not the meaning of く.
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2016-01-18T04:21:19.617
30505
2016-01-18T10:57:03.197
2016-01-18T10:57:03.197
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question
adverbs i-adjectives
What's the meaning of the く in 赤くありません?
Keep in mind that Japanese "adjectives" function differently from English
adjectives. You are in this case asking us about a い-adjective, 赤い. Those
adjectives differ from the な-adjectives, for example 有名｛ゆうめい｝な:

  * The い or な is attached to those adjectives when used as epithets, i.e. they are attached to a noun: 

> 有名な人、赤いリンゴ.

  * な-adjectives are used with the copula, dropping the な: 

> この人は有名(です・でした・ではありません)

  * い-adjectives are "conjugated", you can use them without modifying the copula (sometimes even remove it entirely)! In your example

> このリンゴは赤い(です)。

If you to turn this sentence into a negative one, you modify the adjective, by
appending ～くない, i.e. `このリンゴは赤くない(です)`. See for example [this
page](http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/adjectives) or [this
one](http://kimallen.sheepdogdesign.net/Japanese/adjectives.html).

> このリンゴは赤いではありません。

is **not** a correct sentence.

Then, as mentioned in the related answer ～くありません is the polite form of ～くない.
Thus, it is the polite negative form of the adjective.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-18T05:29:35.950
30506
2016-01-18T10:54:33.760
2016-01-18T10:54:33.760
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answer