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

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).

空(そら)が真(ま)っ青(さお)できれいだね。

The sky is completely blue and beautiful.

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

顔(かお)が真(ま)っ赤(か)になってるよ、大丈夫(だいじょうぶ)？

Your face is completely red, are you okay?

Examples

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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)

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
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
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…