勤勉 (kinben) conjugation
industry, diligence
勤勉 (きんべん, kinben) 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 | 勤勉だ kinbenda | 勤勉です kinbendesu | The form you look up. Also the casual “is ~”. |
| Negative | 勤勉じゃない kinbenjanai | 勤勉じゃないです kinbenjanaidesu | “is not ~”. |
| Past | 勤勉だった kinbendatta | 勤勉でした kinbendeshita | “was ~”. |
| Past negative | 勤勉じゃなかった kinbenjanakatta | 勤勉じゃなかったです kinbenjanakattadesu | “was not ~”. |
| Te-form | 勤勉で kinbende | — | Links to the next clause: “~ and …”. |
| Adverb | 勤勉に kinbenni | — | Turns it into “~ly”, describing a verb. |
| Before a noun | 勤勉な〜 kinbenna〜 | — | How it attaches when it modifies a noun. |
| Conditional (~ば/なら) | 勤勉なら kinbennara | — | “if it is ~”. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 勤勉だったら kinbendattara | — | “if / when it is ~”. The everyday conditional. |
| Become (~なる) | 勤勉になる kinbenninaru | 勤勉になります kinbenninarimasu | “becomes ~” — the change-of-state form. |
| Too much (~すぎる) | 勤勉すぎる kinbensugiru | 勤勉すぎます kinbensugimasu | “too ~”. |
| Looks ~ (~そう) | 勤勉そう kinbensou | 勤勉そうです kinbensoudesu | “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.