明白 (meihaku) conjugation
obvious, clear
明白 (めいはく, meihaku) 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 | 明白だ meihakuda | 明白です meihakudesu | The form you look up. Also the casual “is ~”. |
| Negative | 明白じゃない meihakujanai | 明白じゃないです meihakujanaidesu | “is not ~”. |
| Past | 明白だった meihakudatta | 明白でした meihakudeshita | “was ~”. |
| Past negative | 明白じゃなかった meihakujanakatta | 明白じゃなかったです meihakujanakattadesu | “was not ~”. |
| Te-form | 明白で meihakude | — | Links to the next clause: “~ and …”. |
| Adverb | 明白に meihakuni | — | Turns it into “~ly”, describing a verb. |
| Before a noun | 明白な〜 meihakuna〜 | — | How it attaches when it modifies a noun. |
| Conditional (~ば/なら) | 明白なら meihakunara | — | “if it is ~”. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 明白だったら meihakudattara | — | “if / when it is ~”. The everyday conditional. |
| Become (~なる) | 明白になる meihakuninaru | 明白になります meihakuninarimasu | “becomes ~” — the change-of-state form. |
| Too much (~すぎる) | 明白すぎる meihakusugiru | 明白すぎます meihakusugimasu | “too ~”. |
| Looks ~ (~そう) | 明白そう meihakusou | 明白そうです meihakusoudesu | “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.