何気ない (nanigenai) conjugation
casual, unconcerned
何気ない (なにげない, nanigenai) 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 | 何気ない nanigenai | 何気ないです nanigenaidesu | The form you look up. Also the casual “is ~”. |
| Negative | 何気なくない nanigenakunai | 何気なくないです nanigenakunaidesu | “is not ~”. |
| Past | 何気なかった nanigenakatta | 何気なかったです nanigenakattadesu | “was ~”. |
| Past negative | 何気なくなかった nanigenakunakatta | 何気なくなかったです nanigenakunakattadesu | “was not ~”. |
| Te-form | 何気なくて nanigenakute | — | Links to the next clause: “~ and …”. |
| Adverb | 何気なく nanigenaku | — | Turns it into “~ly”, describing a verb. |
| Before a noun | 何気ない〜 nanigenai〜 | — | How it attaches when it modifies a noun. |
| Conditional (~ば/なら) | 何気なければ nanigenakereba | — | “if it is ~”. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 何気なかったら nanigenakattara | — | “if / when it is ~”. The everyday conditional. |
| Become (~なる) | 何気なくなる nanigenakunaru | 何気なくなります nanigenakunarimasu | “becomes ~” — the change-of-state form. |
| Too much (~すぎる) | 何気なすぎる nanigenasugiru | 何気なすぎます nanigenasugimasu | “too ~”. |
| Looks ~ (~そう) | 何気なそう nanigenasou | 何気なそうです nanigenasoudesu | “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.