Stem classification 終止形 vs 連体形（しゅうしけい vs れんたいけい）


What is the difference between 終止形 and 連体形 and which one is the correct term
for the dictionary form?

The [Japanese Grammar Wiki
entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_grammar#Adjectives) says...

> Terminal form (終止形 shūshikei) -u is used at the ends of clauses in predicate
> positions. This form is also variously known as **plain form** (基本形
> kihonkei) or **dictionary form** (辞書形 jishokei) – it is the form that verbs
> are listed under in a dictionary.

This is backed up by my teacher who described it as the dictionary form,
辞書形。The wiki describes the 連体形 form as practically identical (I don't quite
understand the difference) and my teacher said the 連体形 form is 名詞にかかる形。

However I've seen a number of
[posts](http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=180&page=22) describing
the 連体形 as the dictionary form omitting to refer to the 終止形 form at all.

Can anyone clear this up for me? An explanation / example of the purpose of
the 連体形 form would greatly help.

Thanks.




In modern Japanese, the rentaikei and shuushikei of verbs are the same, but
not for e.g. na-adjectives, where rentaikei is e.g. 変な, but shuushikei is 変だ.
Even for i-adjectives, the slightly archaic rentaikei e.g. 赤き is sometimes
used instead of 赤い, mostly for stylistic reasons.




In modern Japanese, the rentaikei and shuushikei of verbs are the same, but
not for e.g. na-adjectives, where rentaikei is e.g. 変な, but shuushikei is 変だ.
Even for i-adjectives, the slightly archaic rentaikei e.g. 赤き is sometimes
used instead of 赤い, mostly for stylistic reasons.

