99883
> ハリーはその子の鼻の頭がまだ汚れた **まま** なのに気づいた。  
>  Harry noticed that end of the boy's nose was still dirty.

I continue to be confused by まま. Why is it needed in this sentence? I know the
broad idea that something is left in a certain state, but isn't まだ performing
that duty here?

Can I omit ままな from this sentence? If not, why not? How would it change the
meaning?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-06-09T14:57:27.670
99881
2023-06-09T15:57:23.507
7944
question
grammar
Seemingly redundant use of まま
To describe the same situation without まま, you would say:

> ハリーはその子の鼻の頭がまだ汚れ **ている** のに気づいた。

There is nothing wrong with this sentence. As you say, we can tell from まだ
that the nose was in the same state earlier. However, it doesn’t quite say it
has remained that way all this time. It’s more like a snapshot of the current
state with a hint that it was like that earlier, too.

まま makes it explicit that the nose has been **left** in that state. So much so
that I feel the following sentence with まま but without まだ is closer to the
original sentence with both in it than the sentence above without まま is to
either.

> ハリーはその子の鼻の頭が汚れた **まま** なのに気づいた。

So if anything is redundant, it would be まだ, which is an adverb after all. An
aspect marker is more powerful than an adverb in describing an aspect. But まだ
serves the function of adding emphasis as a good adverb.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-06-09T15:57:23.507
99883
2023-06-09T15:57:23.507
43676
99881
answer