LEARN + JAPANESE / 26 of 186 JLPT N5
Still, Already まだ・もう
まだ means “still,” もう means “already.” Both describe where something stands relative to a change, and both shift meaning once a negative verb shows up next to them.
I'm still waiting for the train at the station.
No, I haven't eaten yet.
Hint · 힌트
まだ paired with a negative doesn’t mean “still not,” it means “not yet.” まだ食べていません is the standard way to answer “have you eaten?” with a no, the event just hasn’t happened up to this point, it isn’t a permanent refusal.
I already bought it.
I don't eat chocolate anymore.
Hint · 힌트
もう paired with a negative flips to “not anymore,” describing something that used to be true and now isn’t, the opposite direction from まだ’s “not yet.” Both words describe the same idea, a state relative to change, まだ looks at what hasn’t happened up to now, もう looks at what has, or has stopped.
とっくに means “long ago / well before now” and emphasizes that an event happened much earlier than the speaker expected. 未[いま]だに means “still / even now,” often stressing that a situation continues longer than expected.
The deadline passed long ago, but the cause is still unknown.
In Real Life
とっくに is useful when something should already be finished; 未だに highlights that an expected change has not happened, often with surprise or frustration. Both add stronger timing expectations than everyday もう and まだ.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| to run | |
| bus stop | |
| order (at a shop) | |
| refrigerator | |
| to date, go out with | |
| to collect, gather | |
| to be visible, to seem | |
| pretty, clean | |
| university student | |
| to meet | |
| from now | |
| for now, at this point | |
| soon, about time | |
| just finished | |
| still, even now | |
| still continuing | |
| long ago, well before now | |
| to be finished, settled | |
| in preparation | |
| to resolve, solve |
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