すばしこい (subashikoi) conjugation
nimble, smart, quick
すばしこい (すばしこい, subashikoi) 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 | すばしこい subashikoi | すばしこいです subashikoidesu | The form you look up. Also the casual “is ~”. |
| Negative | すばしこくない subashikokunai | すばしこくないです subashikokunaidesu | “is not ~”. |
| Past | すばしこかった subashikokatta | すばしこかったです subashikokattadesu | “was ~”. |
| Past negative | すばしこくなかった subashikokunakatta | すばしこくなかったです subashikokunakattadesu | “was not ~”. |
| Te-form | すばしこくて subashikokute | — | Links to the next clause: “~ and …”. |
| Adverb | すばしこく subashikoku | — | Turns it into “~ly”, describing a verb. |
| Before a noun | すばしこい〜 subashikoi〜 | — | How it attaches when it modifies a noun. |
| Conditional (~ば/なら) | すばしこければ subashikokereba | — | “if it is ~”. |
| Conditional (~たら) | すばしこかったら subashikokattara | — | “if / when it is ~”. The everyday conditional. |
| Become (~なる) | すばしこくなる subashikokunaru | すばしこくなります subashikokunarimasu | “becomes ~” — the change-of-state form. |
| Too much (~すぎる) | すばしこすぎる subashikosugiru | すばしこすぎます subashikosugimasu | “too ~”. |
| Looks ~ (~そう) | すばしこそう subashikosou | すばしこそうです subashikosoudesu | “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.