notes

「まだ」

  • 「まだ」 situates the present time inside a time segment that stretches back into the past and is either expected to end or the end is being considered as a possibility
  • ex: 「宿題はまだしなかった。」 means “(I) still haven’t done homework.”
    • exists in a section of time marked by “not having yet done homework” that contrasts with a future section of “having done homework”
    • the present time is being contrasted with a past point in time where “should have already done homework”
  • ex: 「田中さんはまだ若い。」 means “Tanaka-san is still young.”
  • ex: 「田中さんはまだ大人ではない。」 means “Tanaka-san is not yet an adult.”
  • ex: 「日本語は上手いね。」「いいえまだまだです。」
    • example of 「まだ」 meaning “not yet” with a non-negative copula

      「もう」

  • 「もう」 situates the present time inside a time segment that stretches forward into the future and compares it to the past when current conditions were different and to the future where the transition is expected to happen
  • ex: 「宿題をしなさい。」「もうやったよ。」
    • the condition of “having done homework” has already happened in the past
  • there is another 「もう」 that is similar in meaning to the particle 「も」 (meaning “another”)
    • ex: 「もう一つ。」 means “Another one.”
    • ex: 「もうすぐ。」 means “Already soon.”
    • ex: 「もう少し。」 means “Just a little bit more.”
    • ex: 「もう一度。」 means “One more time.”

      resources

  • youtube