まだ
- 1Still: a state or ongoing action continues up to now.Ex. 1
- 2Not yet: with a negative, an expected action or event has not happened so far.Ex. 2
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Neutral in register and very common in both speech and writing. It is used for weather, progress on tasks, and replies to questions asked with もう. まだ looks at a situation that has not yet changed, while もう marks a change that has already happened, and the 'not yet' sense usually pairs with the ている form, as in 終わっていません.
Learners often use the past negative (終わりませんでした) for 'not yet'; use the ていない form (終わっていません) instead.
Note that affirmative まだ means 'still' and negative まだ means 'not yet,' so the predicate's polarity decides the meaning.
Do not answer a もう question with just いいえ; add まだです or まだ〜ていません for a natural reply.
- もうN5もう indicates that a change has already occurred, the opposite of まだ, so the two cannot be swapped. もう〜ない means 'no longer,' not 'not yet,' and もう can also attach to a counter to mean 'one more' (もう一つ), a usage まだ does not have.
- とっくにN2While まだ focuses on a change that has not yet arrived (still, not yet, only just), とっくに emphasizes that something happened or was established long ago; it is colloquial and stresses earliness even more than もう. Their viewpoints differ, so they cannot be swapped.
- ままN4まま attaches to the た form or ない form of verbs, adjectives, and nouns + の, and means keeping something in its original state and then performing the following action in that state, or leaving it as is; まだ is an adverb meaning a change has not yet come. The two cannot be swapped.
- 〜たきりN3〜たきり attaches to the た form of a verb and emphasizes that after doing something, nothing further ever happened, often with a sense of regret; まだ is an adverb indicating a state has not yet changed and does not require a particular action as its starting point. They cannot be swapped, but can be used together, as in 出かけたきりまだ戻らない.
- ずじまいN1まだ with a negative means 'not yet,' and the event may still happen afterward; ずじまい means that in the end something was never done and the matter is closed, often with regret. It attaches to the ない form of a verb with ない removed (する→せずじまい), and the two cannot be swapped.
もう is the counterpart, meaning 'already' or 'no longer,' and とっくに stresses that something happened or a state began long ago (e.g. とっくに知っている, 'have known for a long time'), whereas まだ marks something not yet done or still continuing. まま describes a state left unchanged, 〜たきり means nothing has followed since a single action, and ずじまい means something ended up never being done; まだ simply notes continuation or non-occurrence so far.
