軽い
かるい
light, non-serious, minor
i-adjective
Conjugation Table
Present
軽い
Negative
軽くない
Past
軽かった
Past Negative
軽くなかった
Te Form
軽くて
Adverbial
軽く
Conditional
軽ければ
Presumptive
軽いでしょう
Example Sentences
このかばんは軽いです。
This bag is light.
Kono kaban wa karui desu.
昨日食べたごはんは軽かったです。
The meal I ate yesterday was light.
Kinou tabeta gohan wa karukatta desu.
このズボンは軽くないです。
These pants are not light.
Kono zubon wa karukunai desu.
Grammar Notes & Usage Tips
•As an i-adjective, 軽い (かるい) follows regular conjugation patterns: for the negative form, just drop the い and add くない to make it 軽くない (かるくない), meaning "not light."
•When describing a noun, simply place 軽い before it in its plain form, like 軽いかばん (かるいかばん), meaning "a light bag." Don't forget, there's no need for particles between the adjective and noun!
•To express that something was light in the past, switch to the past tense by changing 軽い to 軽かった (かるかった). For example, 昨日は荷物が軽かった (きのうはにもつがかるかった) means "The luggage was light yesterday."
•Watch out for its metaphorical use! 軽い can describe not just physical lightness but also something non-serious or minor, like 軽い冗談 (かるいじょうだん), meaning "a light joke," which can sometimes catch learners off guard.
•い-adjective: Conjugates by changing the い ending