"yasashii" vs. "shinsetsu"
Do you know the adjectives 優しい yasashii or 親切 shinsetsu? If you do, you might understand both of them as adjectives that mean “kind”. In fact, they don’t mean the same and they are used differently.
We say somebody is 優しい yasashii when he/she is compassionate, forgiving, generous, or has gentle manners. On the other hand, we say somebody is 優しい yasashii when he/she is a kind of person who is always willing to help others. Of course, somebody can be both 優しい yasashii and 親切 shinsetsu at the same time.
Some technical notes. 優しい yasashii is an i-adjective, whereas 親切 shinsetsu is a na-adjective. Thus, they conjugate in different ways:
Dictionary form (plain non-past affirmative)
優しい yasashii
親切 shinsetsu
Plain non-past negative
優しくない yasashiku nai
親切ではない shinsetsu dewa nai, or 親切じゃない shinsetsu ja nai
Plain past affirmative
優しかった yasashikatta
親切だった shinsetsu datta
Plain past negative
優しくなかった yasashikunakatta
親切ではなかった shinsetsu dewa nakatta, or 親切じゃなかった shinsetsu ja nakatta
Te-form
優しくて yasashikute
親切で shinsetsude
One last note! “Easy” in Japanese is also yasashii but it uses a different kanji character; i.e. 易しい.
We say somebody is 優しい yasashii when he/she is compassionate, forgiving, generous, or has gentle manners. On the other hand, we say somebody is 優しい yasashii when he/she is a kind of person who is always willing to help others. Of course, somebody can be both 優しい yasashii and 親切 shinsetsu at the same time.
Some technical notes. 優しい yasashii is an i-adjective, whereas 親切 shinsetsu is a na-adjective. Thus, they conjugate in different ways:
Dictionary form (plain non-past affirmative)
優しい yasashii
親切 shinsetsu
Plain non-past negative
優しくない yasashiku nai
親切ではない shinsetsu dewa nai, or 親切じゃない shinsetsu ja nai
Plain past affirmative
優しかった yasashikatta
親切だった shinsetsu datta
Plain past negative
優しくなかった yasashikunakatta
親切ではなかった shinsetsu dewa nakatta, or 親切じゃなかった shinsetsu ja nakatta
Te-form
優しくて yasashikute
親切で shinsetsude
One last note! “Easy” in Japanese is also yasashii but it uses a different kanji character; i.e. 易しい.