JLPT N3 · な-adjective

真剣 (shinken)

真剣 (しんけん, shinken) is a Japanese な-adjective meaning “serious; earnest”. It appears in JLPT N3 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading: しんけん
Romaji: shinken
Word class: な-adjective
Level: JLPT N3 (unofficial)

Meaning

serious; earnest · な-adjective
real sword (as opposed to a wooden practice weapon) · noun

Example sentences

ジョージは勉強に真剣でない。

George is not serious about his study.

Tatoeba #215635

「親父これって・・・真剣？」「当たり前だろう、決闘なのだからな」

"Dad, this a real sword?" "Of course, it is a duel after all."

Tatoeba #74107

Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.

Conjugation of 真剣

な-adjective. Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.

Form	Japanese	Reading
Present (plain)	真剣だ	しんけんだ shinkenda
Present (polite)	真剣です	しんけんです shinkendesu
Negative	真剣じゃない	しんけんじゃない shinkenjanai
Past	真剣だった	しんけんだった shinkendatta
Negative past	真剣じゃなかった	しんけんじゃなかった shinkenjanakatta
Te-form	真剣で	しんけんで shinkende
Before a noun	真剣な	しんけんな shinkenna
Adverb (~ni)	真剣に	しんけんに shinkenni

Kanji in 真剣

真

true, reality, Buddhist sectシン・ま・ま- · 10 strokes

剣

sabre, sword, bladeケン・つるぎ · 10 strokes

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 真剣.

写真しゃしんphotograph真面目まじめserious真似まねimitating真理しんりtruth真っ赤まっかbright red真空しんくうvacuum真っ暗まっくらpitch-dark真っ黒まっくろpitch-black真っ青まっさおdeep blue真っ先まっさきthe head真っ白まっしろpure white真似るまねるto mimic真実しんじつtruth真珠しんじゅpearl

Source: JMdict entry 1363650 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.