ままに (As Is)As is, While remaining, Left in a state

Occasionally written as まんま

Structure

Verb［た］⁽¹⁾ + まま
［い］Adjective + まま
［な］Adjective + な + まま
Noun + の + まま

⁽¹⁾ Verb［ない］

Details

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Standard
Rare Kanji
儘・侭

About まま(に)

まま, coming from the kanji 儘(まま), which means 'as it is', is a noun in Japanese that is used for describing the 'unchanged state' of something. This expression may be translated as 'while remaining (A)', 'as (A) is', or 'left in the state of (A)'. It can be used after any word in its attributive form. However, when used with verbs, it has a tendency to be used with the た (past) form most frequently.

まま often expresses that something should be left alone, or undisturbed. This is generally seen with verbs in the ない form.

Caution

While まま may be followed by the case marking particle に, it is very often omitted. When it appears, however, it will place extra emphasis on the next verb in the sentence.

Fun Fact

まま may sometimes be pronounced as まんま. However, this variation is primarily only used in casual speech, or writing that is being made to sound like casual speech.

Synonyms

Examples

--:--

コートを着(き)たままだと少(すこ)し暑(あつ)いです。

I feel a little hot keeping this jacket on.

昨日(きのう)は窓(まど)を開(あ)けたまま寝(ね)た。

Last night I slept with the windows left open.

生徒(せいと)は答(こた)えられなくて、黙(だま)ったままでした。

The student couldn't answer and stayed quiet.

このまま行(い)くと図書館(としょかん)が見(み)えます。

If you stay on this course, you will be able to see the library.

ありのままの君(きみ)が好(す)きだ。

I like you, just as you are.

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Online
- Expressing lack of change
  Tae Kim
- How to use ~まま
  Maggie Sensei

Offline
- [AIAIJ] An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese
  Page 189
- Marugoto Elementary 2 (A2) Rikai
  Page 138
- Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
  Page 296
- Tobira
  Page 285
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まま(に) – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (9 in total)

Daru
One basic difference I can think of is that while both てある and まま mean that something was left in that state, the “something that must be left alone/undisturbed” nuance is unique to まま.

てある is just stating the fact.

Hope this helps!
soundjona
Isn’t it a bit strange that in thise case, the に is rejected ? Also could be maybe just a suggestion to remove it ?
casual
I would hazard a guess that このまま (このまま – Vocabulary details – jpdb ) is just an expression that is never followed by に. At least an online search for “このままに” gives very few results.