What does ~た まま mean?
the only meaning I know is for example
窓を開けたままここに来ました I forgot the window opened when I came here
or めがねをかけたまま寝た. slept with my glasses on both examples are essentially the same
but in today's test there was this question
お金を借りったたまま、___________
of course I knew the answer was まだ返していません because was the only one left
so the sentence is お金を借りったたまま、まだ返していません. I can even imagine what it means according to the my examples.
お金を借りったたまま = I forgot money borrowed, まだ返していません = I don't return yet
according to the only meaning I know of たまま I don't know what it means
maybe there is another meaning I don't know
my question is what is the translation of たまま to English???, how did you teaches explained you this form.
thanks
More Questions From This User See All
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
I'm a native speaker of Japanese.
Before answering, お金を借りったたまま is wrong. It should be お金を借りたまま.
The dictionary form is 借りる and the TE form (perfect or past) is 借りた. So, 借りたまま is correct.
Anyway, this is very difficult to translate into English, and even if you do, I don't think you'll be able to learn this.
But the meaning is when something is left in a certain condition/situation (without being changed), the next action is taken.
So, the points are
(1) something is left in a certain condition/situation
(2) no change was made
(3) the next action is taken
And it holds the same meaning in every context.
窓を開けたままここに来た。
(1) the window is left opened. (2) the writer didn't close it. (3) the writer came here.
めがねをかけたまま寝た。
(1) the glasses are on. (2) the writer didn't put it off. (3) the writer went to bed.
お金を借りたまま、まだ返していない。
(1) the writer still has the money s/he borrowed. (2) the writer didn't return it. (3) the writer didn't return it yet[??]
The last example (that was on the test) is not a very good example, I think. We do say this phrase, but if you think about the meaning this sentence holds, we do not need the last half (まだ返していない) because if you say お金を借りたまま, it means the person didn't return it yet.
For example, you could even say お金を借りたままです, to say that you haven't yet return the money you borrowed.
So, logically, the sentence on the test writes the same thing twice.
Usually, we say something like お金を借りたまま、国に かえってしまいました. In this sentence, (1) the writer still has the money s/he borrowed. (2) the writer didn't return it. (3) the writer went back to his/her home country.
This sentence has the (3), where the next action is taken. So, I guess this kind of sentence is more natural although the sentence on the test is not wrong.