Maji: Japanese people use it to say “really?” in conversations

What does “maji” mean in Japanese?

Native speakers say “maji” to mean “really?”, “really”, or such in daily conversations. When they raise its pitch, it means ‘really?’; when they don’t, it means just ‘really’. Probably, this word is very familiar to Japanese learners because it’s quite often used in Japanese movies, songs, anime, manga, and the like. In this blog post, however, I will explain the definitions and meanings of this word and how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “maji” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!

Contents

• Definitions and meanings of “maji”
  • Example #1: how to say “I’m serious” in Japanese
  • Example #2: another usage of “maji”
• Summary

Definitions and meanings of “maji”

Let me start with the definitions and meanings of “maji”.

• maji – マジ (まじ) : grammatically a conjugated na-adjective, but quite often used as an individual word to mean ‘really’, ‘seriously’, ‘serious’, or such in Japanese.

Grammatically this is a conjugated na-adjective, but in daily conversations Japanese people use it as an individual word to express that they are serious or that they are surprised by something. So, its usages are very similar to those of the English word, “really”, I think.

Japanese people tend to write this word in katakana, but its hiragana expression is also acceptable and very understandable. Honestly speaking, it highly depends on the other words used together. If the katakana expression is not good for the whole readability in a sentence, we should pick the hiragana expression instead.

Then, let me explain how to use “maji” through the example sentences below.

Example #1: how to say “I’m serious” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, the first one works after “watashi” to make the subject in the clause. The second one works after “kanojo” to make the subject in the sentence.
• desu – です : an auxiliary verb used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, this is used after “maji” to make it sound polite.
• to – と : a case particle working as a quote marker. In the example, this works after “watashi wa honki desu” to indicate what “kanojo” said.
• kanojo – 彼女 (かのじょ) : a pronoun meaning ‘she’ in Japanese.
• it – 言っ (いっ) : one conjugation of the verb, “iu”, which means ‘to say’ or ‘to tell’ in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
• ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. In the example, this is used after “it” to make its past tense form, “it ta”, which means ‘to have said’ in Japanese.

This is a typical usage of “maji”. In this example, it works as a part of the quote clause, “watashi wa maji desu”, which means ‘I’m serious’ in Japanese. “Maji” itself is a kind of colloquial expression and thus better for casual situations, but can work together with the auxiliary verb, “desu”, for a bit more formal situations. Anyway, when we want to say “serious” in Japanese conversations, this word would be a good option.

Example #2: another usage of “maji”

Next, let me explain how to say “really?”, “seriously?”, or “are you serious?” in Japanese with “maji”.

Below is the new word used in the example sentence.

• ka – か : a sentence-ending particle working to make a question. In the example, this works at the end of the sentence to make the simple question which means ‘really?’, ‘seriously?’, or ‘are you serious?’ in Japanese.

This is another typical usage of “maji”. In this example, it works as a part of the interrogative sentence which means ‘really?’, ‘seriously?’, or ‘are you serious?’ in Japanese. In more casual situations like conversations with our friends or family members, we can say just “maji” with its pitch raised to mean the same thing. Actually, native speakers often use it alone. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this usage well. In Japanese movies, anime, and manga, many characters say just “maji” with its pitch raised to express that they are surprised by something.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the definitions and meanings of “maji” and how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.

• maji – マジ (まじ) : grammatically a conjugated na-adjective, but quite often used as an individual word to mean ‘really’, ‘seriously’, ‘serious’, or such in Japanese. When we raise the pitch, it can work as a question to mean ‘really?’, ‘seriously?’, or ‘are you serious?’ in Japanese; when we don’t, it means ‘really’, ‘seriously’, ‘serious’, or such. This word itself is a kind of colloquial expression and thus better for casual situations, but can work together with “desu” to fit with a bit more formal situations. When we want to express that we are serious or that we are surprised by something, this word would be a good option.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.