learn to how to say still, now and now in japanese!
Coming back to write a little more about japanese vocabulary, today I'm going to present three words that are used a lot in our daily lives, and that we often don't realize how many uses they have.
How to say yet, now and now in Japanese
I'm talking about 今, もう and 未だ, which can have the meaning of now, already or this very moment, and yet.
With these words, we can increase sentences using them as adverbs of time and improve our Japanese vocabulary.
Creating sentences with 今
今 is a Japanese vocabulary word usually used at the beginning of sentences, giving a sense of immediacy. In most sentences, it is more common to see 今 being used together with Japanese verbs in the formal mood, or with the japanese verbs in the mashou form, giving a sense of collectivity to the sentences.
For those who still don't know, the mashou form transforms the sentence into the third person plural. That is, if the verb is 行きます, in mashou form it transforms into 行きましょう.
To learn more about the masu and mashou form of Japanese verbs, see the articles below:
The Japanese verbs in the forma masu.
The mashou form of Japanese verbs.
Examples:
今出かけますよ。
今しかない。
今食べましょうか。
今とても眠い
今はとても寒いです。
Creating sentences with もう
Like this 今, Japanese vocabulary allows you to find もう at the beginning of sentences, but unlike 今, もう does not seem to have any preference for verbs. That is, it can be used with Japanese verbs in their most varied forms.
Examples:
もう９時です。
もう読みましたか。
Another feature of もう, is that it can be combined with other words, changing their most common meaning. A good example of this is the word もう一度, which changes the meaning of もう para “most” e a expressão もういい, which can be translated as “já chega”, “já basta” or “está bom”. This confused my head a little at first, but over time I understood each situation better.
So again, I remind you to check the context before completing any translation. OK?
Example:
もう一度、お名前お願いします。
心配するな。もういいよ。
ううん、もういいよ。お腹いっぱい。
*Literal translation: No, that's enough, that's enough, that's good! I'm full
In negative sentences, the word もう also has its meaning changed. But this time, it happens to be translated as “mais nada” or simply “mais” in the negative sense.
Examples:
私は今日はもう用がない。
私はもう彼を信用しない。
私はもう食べたくない。
Creating sentences with 未だ
Following the same pattern as the words mentioned in this article, it is also common to see 未だ at the beginning of sentences, being widely used with all types of Japanese vocabulary verbs.
Like many other kanji, 未だ can also appear in sentences only in hiragana, in these cases it will be easier to find まだ instead of the kanji already presented.
未だ終わりません。
未だ出かけませんよ。
Another interesting fact about 未だ, is that it can be used alone to form negative responses. In this case, the main meaning will be within the context. Note the two sentences below:
もう終わりましたか。
未だです。
I hope that with the examples you learned how to say it still, now and already in Japanese!
That's all for today.
またね！