Let’s learn Japanese grammar -もう and まだ-

When you want to ask your friends if they’ve finished eating their dinner, how can you ask it in Japanese?

If someone asked you if you’ve finished eating your dinner, how can you answer the question in Japanese?

In this article, I will teach you how you can ask if they’ve done something and how you can answer their questions.

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もう～た

We use “もう～た” form to say that something scheduled or something that someone wants done is already finished.

Conjugation

もう＋Vました or Vた

If you don’t know what タ form is, please read this article.

Japanese verbs conjugation-past tense

Let’s see some examples.

In this case, they’re asking if you’ve already eaten your dinner.

In this sentence, they’re asking if you’ve already finished your homework .

As these examples, we use もう to express if something has been already done.

まだ～てない

We use “まだ～てない” form to say that something scheduled or something that needs to be done is not yet finished.

You can also say that “まだです”.

Conjugation

まだ＋テ form＋いません or いない

If you don’t know what テ form is, please read this article.

Learning Japanese conjugation te form

Let’s see an example.

In this case, someone asks if you’ve already finished eating, and you answer not yet.

Please keep in mind that まだ　たべていません expresses the current situation, you are mentioning that you are not done yet.

まだ　たべません means that you don’t want to eat now, you will probably eat later.

Therefore, if you want to explain that you haven’t done something yet, you should use ていません.

conclusion

We use “もう～た” form to say that something scheduled or something that someone wants done is already finished.

Conjugation

もう＋Vました or Vた

We use “まだ～てない” form to say that something scheduled or that something that someone wants done is not yet finished.

You can also say that “まだです”.

Conjugation

まだ＋テ form＋いません or いない

Exercise

Please change to proper form.

①　もう　しゅくだいを　（します→　）か。

②　もう　シャワーを　（あびます→　）か。

③　もう　あのえいがを　（みます→　）か。

④　もう　そうじは　（おわります→　）か。

⑤　もう　あそこの　レストランは　（いきます→　）か。

⑥　まだ　ごはんを　（たべます→　）いません。

⑦　まだ　かいものに　（いきます→　）いません。

⑧　まだ　てがみを　（かきます→　）いません。

Please choose correct word.

⑨　さくらは、（まだ・もう）さいていません。

⑩　かぜは（まだ・もう）よくなりましたか。

Answer

①　もう　しゅくだいを　（します→しました）か。

②　もう　シャワーを　（あびます→あびました）か。

③　もう　あのえいがを　（みます→みました）か。

④　もう　そうじは　（おわります→おわりました）か。

⑤　もう　あそこの　レストランは　（いきます→いきました）か。

⑥　まだ　ごはんを　（たべます→たべて）いません。

⑦　まだ　かいものに　（いきます→いって）いません。

⑧　まだ　てがみを　（かきます→かいて）いません。

⑨　さくらは、（まだ・もう）さいていません。

⑩　かぜは（まだ・もう）よくなりましたか。

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