How to Use Mou

Yesterday, I started to learn about the different uses of もう . The word もう can be used to say, “already”, “more” or “anymore.” Depending upon what the word is placed in front of determines that meaning.

When placed in front of a positive past tense verb, もう means “already.” As in, something has already been done. It can be used to express that you’ve already ate or been somewhere. For example, you could ask, もう行きましたか。 - “Have you already gone?” An affirmative response would be, はい、もう行きました。 - “Yes, I have already gone.” A negative response could be, いいえ、まだです。 - “No, not yet.”

In front of a counter word, such as 一つ (One thing), もう means “more.” For example, もう一つ means, “One more.” Or imagine you’re at a restaurant and one of your friends is late. This could be a situation where you could say, もう一人 - “One more person.”

The other main usage of もう is to say “anymore.” This can be established by placing the word in front of a negative verb. This form can be useful to express that you don’t go somewhere or drink anymore. However, “anymore” can also be expressed with the use of もう and じゃない placed after a word. For example, you could say, 大阪もう行くじゃないです。 - “I am not going to Osaka anymore.”