低い (hikui) conjugation
short, low
低い (ひくい, hikui) is an i-adjective. I-adjectives carry their own tense: drop the final い and the endings attach straight to the stem. No だ, no です needed to make a complete sentence.
Conjugation table
| Form | Plain (casual) | Polite (~です) | When you use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dictionary / plain | 低い hikui | 低いです hikuidesu | The form you look up. Also the casual “is ~”. |
| Negative | 低くない hikukunai | 低くないです hikukunaidesu | “is not ~”. |
| Past | 低かった hikukatta | 低かったです hikukattadesu | “was ~”. |
| Past negative | 低くなかった hikukunakatta | 低くなかったです hikukunakattadesu | “was not ~”. |
| Te-form | 低くて hikukute | — | Links to the next clause: “~ and …”. |
| Adverb | 低く hikuku | — | Turns it into “~ly”, describing a verb. |
| Before a noun | 低い〜 hikui〜 | — | How it attaches when it modifies a noun. |
| Conditional (~ば/なら) | 低ければ hikukereba | — | “if it is ~”. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 低かったら hikukattara | — | “if / when it is ~”. The everyday conditional. |
| Become (~なる) | 低くなる hikukunaru | 低くなります hikukunarimasu | “becomes ~” — the change-of-state form. |
| Too much (~すぎる) | 低すぎる hikusugiru | 低すぎます hikusugimasu | “too ~”. |
| Looks ~ (~そう) | 低そう hikusou | 低そうです hikusoudesu | “looks / seems ~” from appearance. |
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Why it conjugates this way
I-adjectives carry their own tense: drop the final い and the endings attach straight to the stem. No だ, no です needed to make a complete sentence.
See the full rules in the adjective conjugation guide.