I understand that they both mean “something remains as it is.” But I don’t understand when I can use which.
I’ve seen someone say that まま has no nuance while っぱなし has a negative meaning.
Plus, that まま can be used with certain verbs but can’t with others, same as っぱなし.
Please help.
2 comments
I’m still learning but I wanna pitch in to see if I got it right. Anyone please feel free to correct me 🙂
From what I understood, the negative connotation of っぱなし comes from “leaving it as it is” when you shouldn’t.
Example:
［家のドアをあけっぱなした。］[I left the house’s door open.] It’s negative in the sense that you shouldn’t leave doors open because what if a burglar comes in?
［子供がおもちゃを出しっぱなした。］[The kid left the toys out.] It means the kid didn’t clean the toys up after playing and just left it where it is when they should’ve cleaned it up.
About まま, I’m not too sure of the rules and exceptions, all I know is it’s a general way to say “as it is” whether positive or negative (今のまま、泣いてたまま、etc.)
TL;DR: If you wanna emphasize that someone left something as it is when they shouldn’t, use っぱなし.
っぱなし is written っ放し。 放 has the negative connotation, meaning leaving somethingas it is without cares or throwing away.