まま

まま Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Noun

Essential Meaning: As is / Unchanged / Remain as it is

Construction: 

• Verb informal past + まま
  • E.g. 閉しめたまま [X remains closed / X is left closed closed]

• Negative verb informal + まま
  • E.g. 閉しめないまま [X remains not closed / X is left not closed]

• い-Adjective + まま
  • E.g. 高たかいまま [X remains expensive]

• な-Adjective Stem + なまま
  • E.g. 静しずかなまま [X remains quiet]

• Noun + のまま
  • E.g. 昔むかしのまま [X remains as it was in the past]

Notes:

• Xまま conveys the idea that situation X remains unchanged (usually while some situation Y occurs). For example, consider the sentence: 電気でんきをつけたまま寝ねてしまいました。[I fell asleep while the lights remained on.] In this example, the lights are on; this is the situation that remains unchanged. Then, while the lights remain on, the speaker falls asleep. When using まま, the unchanged situation X precedes the main action Y. Sometimes there is no main action Y, and the sentence merely expresses that state X remains unchanged.
  • E.g. この部屋へやは昨日きのうのままだ。[This room is as it was yesterday.]

• In most cases, the verb that precedes まま takes the informal past tense. But when the unchanged situation X takes a negative verb, that verb takes the nonpast tense.
  • E.g. ドアを閉しめないまま出でかけてしまった。[I left the house without closing the window.]　The predicate of the unchanged situation (i.e. 閉しめない) is in the negative nonpast tense.
  • E.g. さようならの挨拶あいさつもしないまま行いってしまった。[I went without even saying goodbye.] The predicate of the unchanged situation (i.e. しない) is in the negative nonpast tense.

• When the verb that precedes まま is non-volitional (e.g. a passive verb form or a verb conveying internal feelings), it is acceptable to use either the past or nonpast tense.
  • E.g. 言いわれるままを払はらった。[I paid just as I was told to.] This example uses a nonpast tense interior verb and a past tense main verb.
  • E.g. 言いわれたままを払はらった。[I paid just as I was told to.] This example uses both a past tense interior verb and a past tense main verb.
  • E.g. 思おもっているままを書かいてみた。[I tried writing down exactly how I felt.] This example uses a nonpast tense interior verb and a past tense main verb.
  • E.g. 思おもっていたままを書かいてみた。[I tried writing down exactly how I felt.] This example uses both a past tense interior verb and a past tense main verb.

• When a non-する verb directly follows まま, you can optionally separate まま and the verb with で (in this case, で acts as the て-Form of the copula だ). With ままで, the statements before and after ままで comes across more like two coordinated phrases rather than a single unified phrase.
  • E.g. 弟おとうとはテレビをつけたまま寝ねてしまった。 [My younger brother slept with the TV on.]
  • E.g. 弟おとうとはテレビをつけたままで寝ねてしまった。[My younger brother left the TV on, and he fell asleep.]

• Verb informal negative nonpast + まま (e.g. 閉しめないまま) can be re-phrased using ないで or ずに. The difference is that ないで / ずに focuses primarily on the negative aspect of the verb (i.e. focusing on what didn’t occur), while まま focuses primarily on the unaltered situation that did occur.
  • E.g. ドアを閉しめないまま出でかけてしまった。[He left with the door open.]
  • E.g. ドアを閉しめないで / ずに出でかけてしまった。[He left without closing the door.]

• In casual speech, まま is often expresses as まんま. The meaning is exactly the same.

Example Sentences:

弟おとうとはテレビをつけたまま寝ねてしまった。[My little brother fell asleep with the TV on.]

弟おとうとはテレビをつけたままにしておいた。[My younger brother left the TV on.]

弟おとうとはテレビをつけたままだ。[My younger brother left the TV on.]

この部屋へやは昨日きのうのままだ。[This room is as it was yesterday.]

ここはこのままにしておく。[I’ll leave this place as it is.]

テレビがついたままになっている。[The TV was turned on and it’s still on.]

帽子ぼうしをかぶったままの学生がくせいが教室きょうしつにいた。[The boy who kept his hat on was in the classroom.]

WILD Examples:

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