MOST JRPGs have:
-Statistics. Tons of them.
-Items you can equip to your character(s). They mostly modify your stats.
-A party of characters that follow you pretty much everywhere and help you blah blah blah.
-Turn-based combat.
JRPGs focus mostly on the strategic part of combat, while action/adventure ones focus on the mash-buttons-like-crazy part of combat.
Pokemon red/blue/gold/silver/etc. would be a pretty good example of a JRPG. You have a party of up to 6 characters (although only one [sub](sometimes two)[/sub] can fight at the time), turn based combat in which you chose if you want to attack (and which attack you want to use), use an item or run (or change the active pokemon, but most JRPGs don't have such option, since you can have multiple characters fighting at the time). Your pokemons have statistics that you can modify by using certain items (either by giving them to your pokemon or by using them on it), and those statistics (and sometimes dumb luck) is all that matters when you're fighting.
Legend of Zelda, on the other hand, would be a pretty good example of an action/adventure game. You only have one character you can control. He has no statistics you could modify, and the entire fight is based on timed button mashing.
I'm not a specialist, feel free to correct me if I just said something incredibly stupid.
-Statistics. Tons of them.
-Items you can equip to your character(s). They mostly modify your stats.
-A party of characters that follow you pretty much everywhere and help you blah blah blah.
-Turn-based combat.
JRPGs focus mostly on the strategic part of combat, while action/adventure ones focus on the mash-buttons-like-crazy part of combat.
Pokemon red/blue/gold/silver/etc. would be a pretty good example of a JRPG. You have a party of up to 6 characters (although only one [sub](sometimes two)[/sub] can fight at the time), turn based combat in which you chose if you want to attack (and which attack you want to use), use an item or run (or change the active pokemon, but most JRPGs don't have such option, since you can have multiple characters fighting at the time). Your pokemons have statistics that you can modify by using certain items (either by giving them to your pokemon or by using them on it), and those statistics (and sometimes dumb luck) is all that matters when you're fighting.
Legend of Zelda, on the other hand, would be a pretty good example of an action/adventure game. You only have one character you can control. He has no statistics you could modify, and the entire fight is based on timed button mashing.
I'm not a specialist, feel free to correct me if I just said something incredibly stupid.