GrammarJLPT N5
→ already
Already / Yet / (Not) Anymore / More
JLPT N5AdverbNeutral
もう is a versatile adverb that most commonly means "already," indicating that something has been completed or a state has been reached earlier than expected or by the present moment. In questions, もう translates naturally as "yet" (e.g., "Have you eaten yet?"). When paired with a negative verb, もう shifts meaning to "not anymore" or "no longer," indicating that a previously ongoing action or state has ceased. Additionally, もう can mean "more" or "further" when used with quantity expressions, such as もう一つ (one more). It can also convey that something is about to happen ("soon"), especially in the phrase もうすぐ. The key contrast to understand is with まだ, which means "still" or "not yet" — essentially the opposite of もう in most contexts. While すでに is a more formal synonym for the "already" meaning, もう is natural in both casual and polite speech and is one of the first adverbs learners encounter.
Functions
#1 Expressing that something has already happened
Structure
もう + Verb (past tense)
もうご飯を食べました。
Here もう is placed before the verb phrase to indicate that the action of eating has already been completed. The past tense verb 食べました confirms that the event occurred, and もう emphasizes that it happened by the time of speaking, possibly earlier than the listener expected. This is the most fundamental and common usage of もう.I already ate.
Structures
- General placement
- もう + Verb / Adjective / Sentence
- Negative pattern
- もう + Verb (negative form)
- Quantity / Addition
- もう + Counter / Amount
Common mistakes
A common mistake is confusing もう with まだ. Remember that もう means "already" (action completed) while まだ means "still" or "not yet" (action not completed). Another frequent error is answering a もう〜ましたか question with もう in the negative — the correct negative response is まだです or まだ〜ていません, not もう〜ません (which means "not anymore" rather than "not yet"). Learners also sometimes confuse the "already" and "more" meanings; context and what follows もう are key — if a counter or quantity word follows, it means "more," whereas if a verb follows, it typically means "already" or "not anymore." Finally, be careful not to overuse もう where the past tense alone suffices; もう adds emphasis that the action is completed by now, so it is not needed in every past-tense sentence.
Related
まだもうすぐすでにもう〜ないまだ〜ていない