真っ暗 (makkura) conjugation
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真っ暗 (まっくら, makkura) 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 | 真っ暗だ makkurada | 真っ暗です makkuradesu | The form you look up. Also the casual “is ~”. |
| Negative | 真っ暗じゃない makkurajanai | 真っ暗じゃないです makkurajanaidesu | “is not ~”. |
| Past | 真っ暗だった makkuradatta | 真っ暗でした makkuradeshita | “was ~”. |
| Past negative | 真っ暗じゃなかった makkurajanakatta | 真っ暗じゃなかったです makkurajanakattadesu | “was not ~”. |
| Te-form | 真っ暗で makkurade | — | Links to the next clause: “~ and …”. |
| Adverb | 真っ暗に makkurani | — | Turns it into “~ly”, describing a verb. |
| Before a noun | 真っ暗な〜 makkurana〜 | — | How it attaches when it modifies a noun. |
| Conditional (~ば/なら) | 真っ暗なら makkuranara | — | “if it is ~”. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 真っ暗だったら makkuradattara | — | “if / when it is ~”. The everyday conditional. |
| Become (~なる) | 真っ暗になる makkuraninaru | 真っ暗になります makkuraninarimasu | “becomes ~” — the change-of-state form. |
| Too much (~すぎる) | 真っ暗すぎる makkurasugiru | 真っ暗すぎます makkurasugimasu | “too ~”. |
| Looks ~ (~そう) | 真っ暗そう makkurasou | 真っ暗そうです makkurasoudesu | “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.