already; (with negative) no longer

Mou with a past verb means already: mou tabemashita means I already ate. With a negative it means no longer or not anymore. Its opposite in questions and negatives is mada.

Examples

• もう昼ひるご飯はんを食たべました。

  Mou hirugohan o tabemashita.

  I have already eaten lunch.

• 弟おとうとはもう家いえに帰かえりました。

  Otouto wa mou ie ni kaerimashita.

  My younger brother has already gone home.

Vocabulary in these examples

• もう already; more
• 昼ご飯 lunch
• 食べる to eat
• 弟 younger brother
• 家 house; home
• 帰る to go home; to return

Related patterns · Time expressions

• 〜時〜分 telling time (o'clock and minutes)
• 〜時間 / 〜分（時間の長さ） for ... hours / minutes (duration)
• 〜ごろ around, about (a point in time)
• 〜まえに before doing; before (a noun)
• 〜あとで after doing; after (a noun)
• まだ still; (with negative) not yet