もう

Japanese

Etymology 1

Adverb

もう • (mō) 

1. already

   彼(かれ)はもうここに来(き)ている。

   Kare wa mō koko ni kite iru.

   He is already here.

   もう我(が)慢(まん)できない！

   Mō gaman dekinai!

   (I) can't stand it anymore!

   • Fist of the North Star

     お前(まえ)はもう死(し)んでいる。

     Omae wa mō shinde iru.

     You are already dead.

2. already the time to do so. shortly, soon.

   ９時(くじ)ですからもう失礼(しつれい)します。

   Ku-ji desu kara mō shitsurei shimasu.

   It's nine o'clock so I must leave shortly.

3. (chiefly in the negative) any more

   私(わたし)はもう歩(ある)けない。

   Watashi wa mō arukenai.

   I can't walk any more.

4. Used in exasperation: compare English already

   もう知(し)らん！

   Mō shiran!

   Whatever! I don't care!

5. more, further

   もう一杯(いっぱい)ください。

   Mō ippai kudasai.

   Give me one more glass.

   • 2005, ラーメンズ (Rāmenzu) [Rahmens], 不思議(ふしぎ)の国(くに)のニポン (Fushigi no kuni no Nipon), in ALICE (ALICE) [1]

     北海道(ほっかいどう)。住人(じゅうにん)の半分(はんぶん)がクマ。もう半分(はんぶん)がカニ。

     Hokkaidō. Jūnin no hanbun ga kuma. Mō hanbun ga kani.

     Hokkaido. Half of its residents are bears. The other half are crabs.

Usage notes

A common mistake among Japanese language learners is to use もう as a general term meaning more; the correct term in many cases is もっと (motto).

Senses 1-3 and sense 4 have different accents.

Synonyms

• (already): 既(すで)に (sude ni)
• (any more): 最早(もはや) (mohaya)

Antonyms

• まだ (mada)

Interjection

もう • (mō) 

1. (colloquial) jeez!, used to express frustration against the addressee; compare use of English already

   もう、何(なに)やってんだよ。

   Mō, nani yatte n da yo.

   Jeez, what're you up to? → Whaddya doing, already?

Alternative forms

• もー (mō)

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of もう – see the following entries.

【猛】S [noun] ferociousness [prefix] wild, ferocious, frenzied

【網】S [suffix] network

【毛】2 [noun] one thousandth [noun] one thousandth of a 寸 (sun) (approximately 0.0303 mm) [noun] one thousandth of a 匁 (monme) (exactly 3.75 mg) [noun] one thousandth of a 割 (wari) (0.01 percent)

(This term, もう, is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as もう, see Category:Japanese kanji read as もう.)