い-adjective
偉いえらい
erai偉い (えらい, erai) — great — is an い-adjective: 偉かった (past), 偉くない (negative), 偉くて (te-form), 偉いです (polite).
It also means excellent; admirable.
How 偉い conjugates · い-adjective
Drop the final い, then add the ending.
Every form is built on the stem 偉. The one that isn't: the polite present, which is the whole word plus です.
偉い
dropsstem + ending
偉かった偉かったpast · It was admirable.
偉くない偉くないnegative · It isn't admirable.
偉くて偉くてte-form · It's admirable and …
偉ければ偉ければif · If it's admirable, ...
偉いです偉いですpolite presentkeeps the い
Every い-adjective works this way. The one exception is いい, which conjugates from its older form よい.
PLAIN
| Form | Conjugation | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| present | 偉い えらい erai | |
| past It was admirable. | 偉かった えらかった erakatta | |
| negative It isn't admirable. | 偉くない えらくない erakunai | |
| te-form It's admirable and … | 偉くて えらくて erakute | |
| past negative It wasn't admirable. | 偉くなかった えらくなかった erakunakatta | |
| cond. ば If it's admirable, ... | 偉ければ えらければ erakereba | |
| cond. たら When it's admirable, ... | 偉かったら えらかったら erakattara |
POLITE
| Form | Conjugation | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| present | 偉いです えらいです eraidesu | |
| past It was admirable. | 偉かったです えらかったです erakattadesu | |
| negative It isn't admirable. | 偉くないです えらくないです erakunaidesu | |
| past negative It wasn't admirable. | 偉くなかったです えらくなかったです erakunakattadesu |