Japanese i-adjective

chikai — near, close 近い

Explore the principal positive, negative, past, non-past and conditional forms of this Japanese adjective.

How i-adjectives conjugate

The final changes to create negative, past and connecting forms. The adjective itself carries this grammatical information, so a separate verb is not required in the plain forms.

Conjugation table

The English glosses are approximate; the natural translation depends on the surrounding sentence.

Form Style Positive Negative
Present (non-past) Plain is near, close chikai 近い is not near, close chikakunai 近くない
Polite chikai desu 近いです chikakunai desu 近くないです
Past Plain was near, close chikakatta 近かった was not near, close chikakunakatta 近くなかった
Polite chikakatta desu 近かったです chikakunakatta desu 近くなかったです
Presumptive Plain will probably be near, close chikai darō 近いだろう chikakunai darō 近くないだろう
Polite chikai deshō 近いでしょう chikakunai deshō 近くないでしょう
Conditional Standard if it is near, close chikakereba 近ければ if it is not near, close chikakunakereba 近くなければ
Connecting form Standard chikakute 近くて chikakunakute 近くなくて

These conjugations are generated automatically and are intended as a learning guide. Check the natural usage in context when accuracy is important.