adverbial N3 common casualpolitewritten
まるで — just like (paired with ようだ)
まるで
Meaning
- just like / exactly as if — an intensifier that sets up a vivid comparison, completed by ようだ / みたい
Key sentence
まるで夢を見ているようだ。
It's just like I'm dreaming.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adverb at the head of the clause; the predicate ends in ようだ / みたいだ / ような | まるで〜 + ようだ / みたいだ | まるで子供のように / まるで本物みたいだ |
Examples
二人はまるで兄弟のようによく似ている。
The two of them look as alike as if they were brothers.
その村は、まるで時間が止まったかのようだった。
The village was just as if time had stopped.
Easily confused with
Notes
- With a negative predicate, まるで instead means 'completely (not)': まるで分からない ('I don't get it at all'), まるでだめだ ('utterly hopeless'). Here it intensifies the negation rather than a comparison.
See まるで in real sentences
Jengo shows まるで the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar.