Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 10: 2/20

まさかI never dreamed, Never, No way, Don't tell me, You don't say

Structure

まさか + Phrase

Details

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About まさか

Almost always written purely in hiragana, まさか is a combination of まさ, a noun meaning 'precise', or 'exact', and the adverbial particle か. In modern Japanese, まさか is thought of as a single adverb meaning 'it can't be true', 'no way', or 'don't tell me'.

As it is treated primarily as an adverb, まさか will most often appear at the beginning of a sentence, before some statement about what the speaker is shocked/surprised about.

Fun Fact

まさ comes from 正(まさ), meaning 'precise' or 'actual'. However, this noun is very rarely used in modern Japanese. まさに is an adverb used to mean 'precisely', while まさか is another adverb used to mean 'no way!'. However, the literal meaning of まさか is closer to 'is it true?', or 'is it actually?', due to か's role in creating questions.

Examples

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    まさかこんなところで君(きみ)に出会(であ)えるなんて⁉︎

    I never dreamed I would meet you in a place like this!

    まさかこんな大雪(おおゆき)が降(ふ)るなんて思(おも)わなかった。

    I never dreamed it would snow this much.

    まさか…あのこと本当(ほんとう)に彼(かれ)に話(はな)したの？

    Don't tell me... Did you really tell him about that?

    まさか…また財布(さいふ)忘(わす)れたわけじゃないよね。

    Don't tell me... There's no way you forgot your wallet again... right?

    まさか彼(かれ)が犯人(はんにん)だなんて… ショックだ。

    I never dreamed that he would be the criminal… I'm in shock.

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