肝心 (kanjin) conjugation
essential, fundamental, crucial
肝心 (かんじん, kanjin) 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 | 肝心だ kanjinda | 肝心です kanjindesu | The form you look up. Also the casual “is ~”. |
| Negative | 肝心じゃない kanjinjanai | 肝心じゃないです kanjinjanaidesu | “is not ~”. |
| Past | 肝心だった kanjindatta | 肝心でした kanjindeshita | “was ~”. |
| Past negative | 肝心じゃなかった kanjinjanakatta | 肝心じゃなかったです kanjinjanakattadesu | “was not ~”. |
| Te-form | 肝心で kanjinde | — | Links to the next clause: “~ and …”. |
| Adverb | 肝心に kanjinni | — | Turns it into “~ly”, describing a verb. |
| Before a noun | 肝心な〜 kanjinna〜 | — | How it attaches when it modifies a noun. |
| Conditional (~ば/なら) | 肝心なら kanjinnara | — | “if it is ~”. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 肝心だったら kanjindattara | — | “if / when it is ~”. The everyday conditional. |
| Become (~なる) | 肝心になる kanjinninaru | 肝心になります kanjinninarimasu | “becomes ~” — the change-of-state form. |
| Too much (~すぎる) | 肝心すぎる kanjinsugiru | 肝心すぎます kanjinsugimasu | “too ~”. |
| Looks ~ (~そう) | 肝心そう kanjinsou | 肝心そうです kanjinsoudesu | “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.