modality N3 common casualpolitewritten
まるで〜ようだ — just like ~
まるで〜ようだ ・ まるでようだ
Builds on ようだ
Meaning
- just like ~ / exactly as if ~ — a vivid simile, often comparing to something not literally true
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 |
|---|---|---|
| まるで at the front + a clause/noun closing in ようだ (or みたいだ / のように) | まるで + [clause/N] + ようだ | まるで子どものようだ |
Examples
彼の部屋は、まるでゴミ屋敷のようだ。
His room is just like a garbage dump.
五月なのに、まるで真夏のような暑さだ。
Even though it's May, it's hot just like midsummer.
Easily confused with
ようだ ようだ alone is a neutral 'seems / is like' and can be real conjecture. Adding まるで forces the vivid 'exactly like' simile reading — a striking comparison, not a guess. かのようだ Both are similes. かのようだ is more formal/written and explicitly counter-to-fact; まるで〜ようだ is the everyday emphatic 'just like.' They often combine: まるで〜かのようだ.
Notes
- With a negative predicate, まるで instead means 'completely (not)': まるで分からない 'I don't understand at all.'
See まるで〜ようだ in real sentences
Jengo shows まるで〜ようだ the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled from published Japanese grammar references.