Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 7: 9/13

まだStill, Not yet

Structure

まだ + Verb［ている］
まだ + Noun + が + いる
まだ + Noun + が + ある

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Adverb

  • Word Type

    Independent Word

  • Register

    Standard

  • Rare Kanji

    未だ

About まだ

In English, まだ is regularly translated as 'still', or 'not yet', depending on if it is used in a positive non-past, or negative sentence. The reason that Japanese only requires one word for both of these nuances is due to まだ literally meaning 'something is unexpectedly still going'.

From these sentences, we can see that まだ may be translated in each case as the following.

(Non-past) - Although (A) is expected to not be there/happening, it is. 'Still' in English.

(ている) - Although (A) is expected to not still be going, it is. 'Not yet' in English.

The negative form of this will be discussed more in まだ～ていません.

This is the opposite of もう, which means 'something is unexpectedly finished'.

まだ may also be used to ask questions. This is when the speaker thinks that something 'might' be continuing, but wants or needs to confirm.

Fun Fact

まだ is often used simply as an expression indicating that something is 'lacking', or 'not yet' where it needs to be. In these cases まだ is frequently repeated as まだまだ, for emphasis.

  • まだまだだねー。
    You are not ready for this. (You still STILL are not ready)

Examples

--:--

    冷蔵庫(れいぞうこ)にケーキがまだあります。

    There is still cake in the fridge.

    まだ食(た)べていますか。

    Are you still eating!?

    「お前(まえ)にはまだ早(はや)いよ。」

    ''It is still too early for you.'

    まだ雨(あめ)が降(ふ)っているの？

    It's still raining?

    まだ足(あし)が痛(いた)い。

    My foot still hurts.

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      まだ – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (6 in total)

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        Hey @RezoneH !

        To say ‘Are you still studying Japanese’, you would say まだ日本語を勉強しているの? Here this ている is used since it is describing an action is not ‘continuing’, but happens so often that they are considered to be continuous.

        The ている used in the second example you provided is this since it is used in a context where the person is in the constant state of ‘doing’ a verb.

        I hope this answers your question!

      • RezoneH

        RezoneH

        So, for the both 2 scenario there is only 1 possible saying.
        both are: まだ日本語を勉強しているの?
        if i mean,
        You were studying Japanese intensively last year. It seems like you haven’t stopped working, you continue working regularly.
        The expression of this sentence in Japanese is, “mada nihongo wo benkyou shiteiru no?”

        Did I understand correctly?

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        There are many ways that both of these can be expressed! However, if you want to say ‘still doing 〜’, some form of ている will be used.

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