まさか (JLPT N3)

Structure

まさか + Phrase

Details

About まさか

Almost always written purely in hiragana, まさか is a combination of まさ, a noun meaning 'precise', or 'exact', and the adverbial particle か. In modern Japanese, まさか is thought of as a single adverb meaning 'it can't be true', 'no way', or 'don't tell me'.

As it is treated primarily as an adverb, まさか will most often appear at the beginning of a sentence, before some statement about what the speaker is shocked/surprised about.

Fun Fact

まさ comes from 正(まさ), meaning 'precise' or 'actual'. However, this noun is very rarely used in modern Japanese. まさに is an adverb used to mean 'precisely', while まさか is another adverb used to mean 'no way!'. However, the literal meaning of まさか is closer to 'is it true?', or 'is it actually?', due to か's role in creating questions.

全然(ぜんぜん)待(ま)っていないですよ。僕(ぼく)も今(いま)まさに着(つ)いたところです。

I didn't wait at all. I actually just arrived now.
まさかリアがフランスに帰(かえ)るって本当(ほんとう)なの？

Is it actually true that Lia is going back to France?

Examples

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まさかこんなところで君(きみ)に出会(であ)えるなんて⁉︎

I never dreamed I would meet you in a place like this!

まさかこんな大雪(おおゆき)が降(ふ)るなんて思(おも)わなかった。

I never dreamed it would snow this much.

まさか…あのこと本当(ほんとう)に彼(かれ)に話(はな)したの？

Don't tell me... Did you really tell him about that?

まさか…また財布(さいふ)忘(わす)れたわけじゃないよね。

Don't tell me... There's no way you forgot your wallet again... right?

まさか彼(かれ)が犯人(はんにん)だなんて… ショックだ。

I never dreamed that he would be the criminal… I'm in shock.

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まさか – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (3 in total)

Anthropos888
Most example sentences are written in the form まさか + … + なんて + neg. verb.

What does なんて mean in this context? And if なんて and neg. verb are commonly used together with まさか you could note that in the structure.
mrnoone
In this case, it is used for emphasizing the feeling of surprise even more.
BoxerDanc
What about まさか+の？This is a sentence from NihongoDekita with Sayaka I got randomly recommended today: 天気予報では、すぐに雨が止む予定だったんですけど、まさかのもっと降ってきてしまったので、ちょっと雨宿りしています。She translates it as “unexpectedly”.

https://youtube.com/shorts/SbheuMJS5dA?si=9lTrrh4U6BQvZWQM