N3 · Expressions (N3)
まま: just as it is, left that way
たまま, のまま, そのまま
まま says that a state was left unchanged while something else happened — often a state that should have changed.
At a glance
- Remember
- たまま: done, and left that way. のまま, なまま: unchanged. そのまま: as it is.
- Form
- 窓を開けたままwith the window open
- Signal words
- 〜たまま
- 〜のまま
- 〜ないまま
- そのまま
- このまま
- Trap
- Wrong:エアコンをつけるまま寝てしまった。Right:エアコンをつけたまま寝てしまった。
Your turn
9 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| with the window open | 窓を開けたまま |
| with your shoes on | 靴を履いたまま |
| standing | 立ったまま |
| as it used to be | 昔のまま |
| still clean | きれいなまま |
| without understanding | 分からないまま |
| as it is | そのまま |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
た-form + まま: the state was left as it was.
テレビをつけたまま寝てしまった。I fell asleep with the TV on.
A noun takes の, a na-adjective な before まま.
この町は十年前のままだ。This town is just as it was ten years ago.
ないまま: something has still not happened.
理由が分からないまま、会議が終わった。The meeting ended without anyone understanding why.
そのまま means "as it is", without changing anything.
荷物はそのままにしておいてください。Please leave the luggage as it is.
Example sentences
靴を履いたまま部屋に入らないでください。Please don't come into the room with your shoes on.
窓を開けたまま出かけてしまった。I went out and left the window open.
満員で、一時間立ったままだった。It was packed, and I had to stand the whole hour.
借りた本を返さないまま、引っ越してしまった。I moved house without returning the book I had borrowed.
野菜は生のまま食べてもおいしい。The vegetables taste good raw, too.
このまま待っていてください。Please wait here as you are.
7 more example sentences
眼鏡をかけたまま顔を洗ってしまった。I washed my face with my glasses still on.
彼は何も言わないまま、帰っていった。He went home without saying a word.
祖母の部屋は昔のまま残っている。My grandmother's room has been kept just as it was.
冷蔵庫のドアが開いたままだよ。The fridge door has been left open.
料理が冷めたまま残っていた。The food was left there, gone cold.
答えはひらがなのままでかまいません。It is fine to leave the answer in hiragana.
このままだと、間に合わないかもしれない。If things go on like this, we might not make it.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English "with the air conditioning on" has no verb at all, so learners pick the dictionary form. But the state comes from an action that is already finished — somebody switched it on — and that calls for the た-form: つけたまま.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
まま is a noun meaning "the state as it is", and it describes a state that has not changed. After the た-form of a verb it means "with something left as it was": 電気をつけたまま寝てしまった, "I fell asleep with the light on". The light was switched on, and stayed that way.
After a noun it takes の, after a na-adjective な, after an i-adjective nothing, and after a negative the ない-form: 昔のまま, "as it used to be"; きれいなまま, "still clean"; 若いまま, "still young"; 分からないまま, "still without understanding". そのまま, "as it is", is the everyday form: そのままでいいです, "it is fine as it is".
The verb before まま is almost always in the た-form, because the state results from something already done. 立ったまま is "standing" — having stood up and not sat down again — and 靴を履いたまま is "with your shoes on". The dictionary form before まま is wrong in this sense.
English expresses this with "with …", "still" or "left …", and learners reach for the te-form: 窓を開けて寝た. That only says the two things happened one after the other. まま stresses that the first state was not undone, which is often the whole point — usually a complaint or a warning.
A closer look
まま and ている
窓が開いている says the window is open. 窓が開いたままだ says it is still open — and implies that it should not be, or that somebody forgot it. まま brings in an expectation of change that did not come.
That is why まま sits so often with てしまう, with warnings and with complaints: 鍵をかけないまま出かけてしまった. Where nothing ought to have changed, a plain ている is usually enough.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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まま follows a verb in the dictionary form, such as 言われる or 思う
it means "just as": 言われるまま, "exactly as one is told"; 思うまま, "as one pleases".
店員に言われるまま、高いものを買ってしまった。I did just what the shop assistant said and ended up buying something expensive.
Here まま keeps its old sense of "following, without resisting", and the verb describes what is followed rather than a state left behind.
Worth knowing (1)
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このままでは: if nothing changes
このままでは and このままだと look ahead: "if things stay as they are". They usually introduce a warning or a bad outcome.
このままでは、森がなくなってしまう。If nothing changes, the forest will disappear.
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