まま and っぱなし

Table of Contents

まま

Unchanged State
Plain Past Tense Verb + まま
Plain Negative verb + まま
な Adjectives + な + まま
い Adjectives + まま
Nouns + の + まま

まま is noun/adverb (may directly modify verbs) meaning “remaining in a state”.
It is primarily used to indicate a lack of change in a state.
It is typically translated as “remained” or “as is”.
Due to representing a state, present/future tense verbs cannot be used with it.

Examples

ドアは開けたままだ
The door remained opened (by someone)
勉強しないまま寝た
Went to sleep without having studied. (remained not studied)
そのままだと危ない
If it continues as it is, its dangerous
ありのままでいい
It’s good as it is. *
本能のままに行動する
Act according to instinct.
昔のままの町だ
A town the same as it was long ago. (昔のまま is very common).
外は静かなままだった
The outside remained quiet.

*ありのまま is an expression

っぱなし

Forgotten about
ます stem + っぱなし

っぱなし means “まま” from above, but only connects to verb ます stems.
っぱなし has a strong nuance of “left that way” or “forgotten about“, or “forgot to finish”

It can sometimes be used to indicate a state continued for a long time (Keep on…)

Examples

ドアは開けっぱなしだ
The door was left open.
洗濯機に入れっぱなし
Left in the washing machine.
牛乳は机に置きっぱなしだ
Left the milk out on the desk.
アラームが鳴りっぱなしになっている
The alarm has been left to keep ringing.
火はつけっぱなしになっている
The fire was left on.

Continued for a long time:

やられっぱなしだ
Keep loosing/getting beat up.
遅刻しないように、学校まで走りっぱなしだった
In order to not be late, He had to keep running all the way to school.