Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 5: 15/20

真(ま)っCompletely, Exactly, Right

Structure

真ま(っ) + ［い］Adjective［い］
真ま(っ) + Noun

真まん + ま(*)・な(*):
真まん中(なか)、真まん前(まえ)、真まん丸(まる)

真まっ + か(*)・さ(*)・しゃ(*):
真まっ黄色(きいろ)、真まっ白(しろ)、真まっ先(さき)、真まっ正直(しょうじき)

真まっ + は(*)(**):
真まっ平ぴら、真まっ裸ぱだか

Exceptions:
青あおい ￫ 真まっ青さお
赤あかい ￫ 真まっ赤か

(*) column in the kana chart
(**) H sound becomes P sound

Details

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    Standard

About 真(っ)

The prefix ま, coming from the kanji 真(ま) (true), is attached to words in Japanese to express that something is 'completely', 'exactly', 'genuinely' (A). Depending on the word that follows 真(ま), several different conjugation patterns will be used. This conjugation depends on which column the first kana of the word after 真(ま)comes from. ま comes from the ま, み, む, め, も column, for example.

When linked with a ま column, or な column word, 真(ま) will become 真(ま)ん.

When linked with a か column, さ column, or しゃ sound word, 真(ま) will become 真(ま)っ.

When linked with a は column, 真(ま) will become 真(ま)っ, and the first kana of the following word will change to a 'P' sound.

Caution

There are several exceptions to the standard changes that happen when using 真(ま) as a prefix. These are as follows.

When linked with 青(あお)い, 真(ま) will become 真(ま)っ, and 青(あお)い will become 青(さお).

When linked with 赤(あか)い, 真(ま) will become 真(ま)っ, and 赤(あか)い will become 赤(か).

Examples

--:--

    道(みち)の真(ま)ん中(なか)に鹿(しか)がいた。

    There was a deer right in the middle of the road.

    真(ま)ん丸(まる)の円(えん)を描(か)ける人(ひと)がいますか。

    Is there anyone who can draw an exact circle? (perfectly circular)

    この道路(どうろ)を真(ま)っ直(す)ぐ行(い)ってください。

    Please go (exactly) straight down this street.

    彼(かれ)は竹(たけ)を刀(かたな)で真(ま)っ二(ぷた)つに切(き)った。

    He cut the bamboo right in two with a sword.

    急(きゅう)に立(た)ったから、目(め)の前(まえ) が真(ま)っ暗(くら)になってしまった。

    Because I stood up suddenly, everything went completely black.

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真(っ) – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (13 in total)

  • Pushindawood

    Pushindawood

    Completely
    exactly
    right

    Structure

    • 真(っ) + いAdj[stem] or Noun

    Prefix used to emphasize notable level of something. Literally “real/genuine/true”.
    If 真 precedes word starting with a ま/な groups syllable(ま group: ま、み、む、め、もetc) it becomes 真ん: 真ん中、真ん前、真ん丸/真ん円.
    If it precedes words starting with か/さ/しゃ groups syllable, it becomes: 真っ: 真っ黄（まっき in 真っ黄色）,真っ白、真っ先, 真っ正直.
    If it precedes words starting with は group syllable it becomes 真っ and syllable becomes ぱ group syllable: 真っ平,真っ裸

    Exceptions: 青(あおい) - まっ青(さお)、赤(あかい)- まっ赤(か)

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  • meadowdrone

    meadowdrone

    When I reveal the grammar point during reviews, it looks like this:

    Personally find this really hard to parse! It’s fine on the grammar point page, with the clickable kanji for furigana, but I’ve found myself staring at this trying to decode it…
    Could it be improved? At least changed to reflect the grammar point page?
    Like so:

  • Pushindawood

    Pushindawood

    @meadowdrone Thank you for drawing this to our attention! I have updated the furigana for this grammar point to make it easier to parse. Cheers!

  • meadowdrone

    meadowdrone

    That was fast! I was doing my reviews again when this came back up and just noticed it had changed. Very much appreciated

  • Rosemary

    Rosemary

    I was wondering - both exceptions start with a vowel. What the rule for other adjectives starting with vowels? Or are they all different?

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    Hey, long time no see on forums

    Other than the mentioned exceptions (notice that 真っ青 and 真っ赤 are color words), the rest is rather regular.

    真新しい - またらしい
    真一文字 - まいちもじ

    Just remember that not all adjectives are used with 真, though it should be always understandable.

    I hope it helps,
    Cheers

  • Rosemary

    Rosemary

    Yeah, I’m more of a lurker… I mean everything is really clear!

    Ah - I didn’t do all the reading I can see. Just adding ま to the start of adjectives beginning with vowels is clear. I hadn’t picked up that you shouldn’t use it with all adjectives. I will go back to the suggested reading again

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    That is super cool, we are really glad

    The best way is to use the ones you have heard/seen/read.

    But still, it shou...

  • Yryrdz

    Yryrdz

    I thought I understood this point, but I am very confused as to why in the example with 二つ the reading changes to ぷたつ。I hope it’s okay to bump this topic.

  • nekoyama

    nekoyama

    It’s because of this:

    The は row is は, ひ, ふ, へ, ほ.

  • Yryrdz

    Yryrdz

    OH, I feel foolish. Thank you greatly.

  • Isurandil492

    Isurandil492

    道が雪で真っ白になた

    Shouldn’t it be なった? (No, couldn’t send a bug report, because I already sent one for the same grammar point ^^)

  • Sidgr

    Sidgr

    There’s a subtle yet important grammatical nuance that often leads to confusion, particularly when paired with なる:

    • 真っ黒になる
    • 真っ黒くなる.

    At first glance the second seems reasonable, but why it is incorrect isn’t immediately obvious. The key lies in understanding how this emphasizer interacts not with い形容詞 (i-adjectives) but with 名詞 (nouns).

    To illustrate, consider the words 赤 (red, a noun) and 赤い (red, an adjective) in Japanese. They are distinct entities. Following this logic, when we use 真っ (utterly/completely) as a modifier, it aligns with the noun form. Therefore, the correct structure is 真っ + 名詞, which leads to the use of になる, as in the pattern 名詞 + になる.

    So, in the case of 真っ黒 (pitch black), which is a noun phrase, the grammatically correct expression is 真っ黒になる, not 真っ黒くなる.

  • Enerccio

    Enerccio

    Why is this considered a grammar point? With how many exceptions and weird changes like まっさお 真っ青 you might just as well learn those as separate vocabulary words…

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