不明 (fumei) conjugation
unknown, ambiguous
不明 (ふめい, fumei) 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 | 不明だ fumeida | 不明です fumeidesu | The form you look up. Also the casual “is ~”. |
| Negative | 不明じゃない fumeijanai | 不明じゃないです fumeijanaidesu | “is not ~”. |
| Past | 不明だった fumeidatta | 不明でした fumeideshita | “was ~”. |
| Past negative | 不明じゃなかった fumeijanakatta | 不明じゃなかったです fumeijanakattadesu | “was not ~”. |
| Te-form | 不明で fumeide | — | Links to the next clause: “~ and …”. |
| Adverb | 不明に fumeini | — | Turns it into “~ly”, describing a verb. |
| Before a noun | 不明な〜 fumeina〜 | — | How it attaches when it modifies a noun. |
| Conditional (~ば/なら) | 不明なら fumeinara | — | “if it is ~”. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 不明だったら fumeidattara | — | “if / when it is ~”. The everyday conditional. |
| Become (~なる) | 不明になる fumeininaru | 不明になります fumeininarimasu | “becomes ~” — the change-of-state form. |
| Too much (~すぎる) | 不明すぎる fumeisugiru | 不明すぎます fumeisugimasu | “too ~”. |
| Looks ~ (~そう) | 不明そう fumeisou | 不明そうです fumeisoudesu | “looks / seems ~” from appearance. |
🔊 Tap any Japanese word to hear it spoken.
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.