明らか (akiraka) conjugation
obvious, clear
明らか (あきらか, akiraka) is a na-adjective. Na-adjectives behave like nouns. The word itself never changes — you conjugate だ/です after it, and you need な to put it in front of a noun.
Conjugation table
| Form | Plain (casual) | Polite (~です) | When you use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dictionary / plain | 明らかだ akirakada | 明らかです akirakadesu | The form you look up. Also the casual “is ~”. |
| Negative | 明らかじゃない akirakajanai | 明らかじゃないです akirakajanaidesu | “is not ~”. |
| Past | 明らかだった akirakadatta | 明らかでした akirakadeshita | “was ~”. |
| Past negative | 明らかじゃなかった akirakajanakatta | 明らかじゃなかったです akirakajanakattadesu | “was not ~”. |
| Te-form | 明らかで akirakade | — | Links to the next clause: “~ and …”. |
| Adverb | 明らかに akirakani | — | Turns it into “~ly”, describing a verb. |
| Before a noun | 明らかな〜 akirakana〜 | — | How it attaches when it modifies a noun. |
| Conditional (~ば/なら) | 明らかなら akirakanara | — | “if it is ~”. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 明らかだったら akirakadattara | — | “if / when it is ~”. The everyday conditional. |
| Become (~なる) | 明らかになる akirakaninaru | 明らかになります akirakaninarimasu | “becomes ~” — the change-of-state form. |
| Too much (~すぎる) | 明らかすぎる akirakasugiru | 明らかすぎます akirakasugimasu | “too ~”. |
| Looks ~ (~そう) | 明らかそう akirakasou | 明らかそうです akirakasoudesu | “looks / seems ~” from appearance. |
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Why it conjugates this way
Na-adjectives behave like nouns. The word itself never changes — you conjugate だ/です after it, and you need な to put it in front of a noun.
See the full rules in the adjective conjugation guide.