苦手 (nigate) conjugation
poor (at), weak (in), dislike (of)
苦手 (にがて, nigate) 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 | 苦手だ nigateda | 苦手です nigatedesu | The form you look up. Also the casual “is ~”. |
| Negative | 苦手じゃない nigatejanai | 苦手じゃないです nigatejanaidesu | “is not ~”. |
| Past | 苦手だった nigatedatta | 苦手でした nigatedeshita | “was ~”. |
| Past negative | 苦手じゃなかった nigatejanakatta | 苦手じゃなかったです nigatejanakattadesu | “was not ~”. |
| Te-form | 苦手で nigatede | — | Links to the next clause: “~ and …”. |
| Adverb | 苦手に nigateni | — | Turns it into “~ly”, describing a verb. |
| Before a noun | 苦手な〜 nigatena〜 | — | How it attaches when it modifies a noun. |
| Conditional (~ば/なら) | 苦手なら nigatenara | — | “if it is ~”. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 苦手だったら nigatedattara | — | “if / when it is ~”. The everyday conditional. |
| Become (~なる) | 苦手になる nigateninaru | 苦手になります nigateninarimasu | “becomes ~” — the change-of-state form. |
| Too much (~すぎる) | 苦手すぎる nigatesugiru | 苦手すぎます nigatesugimasu | “too ~”. |
| Looks ~ (~そう) | 苦手そう nigatesou | 苦手そうです nigatesoudesu | “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.