下手 (heta) conjugation
unskillful, poor
下手 (へた, heta) 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 | 下手だ hetada | 下手です hetadesu | The form you look up. Also the casual “is ~”. |
| Negative | 下手じゃない hetajanai | 下手じゃないです hetajanaidesu | “is not ~”. |
| Past | 下手だった hetadatta | 下手でした hetadeshita | “was ~”. |
| Past negative | 下手じゃなかった hetajanakatta | 下手じゃなかったです hetajanakattadesu | “was not ~”. |
| Te-form | 下手で hetade | — | Links to the next clause: “~ and …”. |
| Adverb | 下手に hetani | — | Turns it into “~ly”, describing a verb. |
| Before a noun | 下手な〜 hetana〜 | — | How it attaches when it modifies a noun. |
| Conditional (~ば/なら) | 下手なら hetanara | — | “if it is ~”. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 下手だったら hetadattara | — | “if / when it is ~”. The everyday conditional. |
| Become (~なる) | 下手になる hetaninaru | 下手になります hetaninarimasu | “becomes ~” — the change-of-state form. |
| Too much (~すぎる) | 下手すぎる hetasugiru | 下手すぎます hetasugimasu | “too ~”. |
| Looks ~ (~そう) | 下手そう hetasou | 下手そうです hetasoudesu | “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.