I know that 'ありのままで' means something like 'as I am', but how would one go
about understanding the bits and pieces of the phrase, such as 'あり' and what
its function in the phrase is? Thank you for your help.
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question
meaning phrases
Understanding 'ありのままで'
> Why "ari no mama de" is something like "as I am"?

**_ari no mama de_** is **ありのままで**. ありのまま is a set phrase which means そのまま, so
ありのままで is そのままで or " _as it is_ " or " _Let it be_ ".

I heard that ありのままで is translated for "Let it go", not for "as I am", "as it
is" or "Let it be".

There is a [story](http://kiwi-english.net/1408) about the translation of
「ありのままで」.

The possible translation for " _Let it go_ " is not "ありのままで" which is
equivalent to " _Let it be_ ", but 「もう忘れたら？」,「もう気にするのやめたら？」 or 「もう手放したら？」.  
But the translator thought the movement of the mouth of " _Let it go, Let it
go_ " is similar to that of "ありの～、ままで～" when someone sings the phrases of the
lyrics. So he/she decided to translate it as it is, even if there might be a
slight difference in the meaning.
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answer
* **Ari あり** : The masu-stem of ある ("to exist", "to be"). [The masu-stem of a verb sometimes works as a noun.](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/32311/5010) So here あり means "(your) being", "current existence", etc.
  * **No の** : The particle that connects two nouns. You must be familiar with this.
  * **Mama まま** : A noun that means "the status like before", "the same manner", etc. It's almost always modified by another clause or attributive. See: [Learn JLPT N3 Grammar: まま (mama)](http://japanesetest4you.com/flashcard/learn-jlpt-n3-grammar-%E3%81%BE%E3%81%BE-mama/)
  * **De で** : A particle that marks a condition. "in ～"

So they amount to something like "in the same manner as you are (now)" or "as
(it) is". Basically ありのまま is a set phrase that [works as a single no- or na-
adjective](http://jisho.org/word/%E6%9C%89%E3%82%8A%E3%81%AE%E3%81%BE%E3%81%BE).
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answer