Is there a difference between 最高の and 最高な?


A dictionary lists 最高 as being both a no-adjective and na-adjective. I've also
seen other examples of this. However, is there a difference between using it
either form since they're both attached to nouns?




Basically you should stick to 最高の～. Personally I feel 最高な～ sounds slightly
peculiar.

In BCCWJ, there are 2410 examples of `最高の`, and only less than 20 examples of
`最高な + noun`. As for the meaning, I see no difference. All the examples of
`最高な + noun` in BCCWJ seemed safely interchangeable with `最高の`.




I found the following in _A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar:_

> No-adjectives are just like nouns in terms of their syntactic rules (e.g.
> they require _no_ when they modify nouns), but they cannot be marked by case
> particles such as _ga_ and _o._ In other words, they are not nouns. The only
> syntactic difference between _na_ -adjectives and _no_ -adjectives is that
> _na_ -adjectives take _na_ before nouns whereas _no_ -adjectives take _no._
>
> However, some words can take either _na_ or _no,_ as shown below:
>
> 特別｛な/の｝治療｛ちりょう｝(special treatment)
>
> 様々｛な/の｝衣装｛いしょう｝(various costumes)

So in short, the meaning of the adjective does not change between the use of な
or の。 Directly answering your question, 最高の and 最高な have the same meaning, and
the usage is the same as well. However, if there are nuances on when to use な
over の, I don't know them. I suspect that only those who have studied Japanese
for a long time would know the nuances, if there are any.

Below, I will include a few attached pictures where I found this information.
It's an interesting and fantastic read when studying adjectives!

[![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/xVG8F.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/xVG8F.jpg)
[![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/pCZQS.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/pCZQS.jpg)

