まるで details
write + just like
marude kaku you da
just like; as if — a likeness the speaker knows is not the fact; and before a negative, not in the slightest
meaning: be just as though it will write
この造花、よくできていて、まるで本物のようだ。
kono zouka, yoku dekite ite, marudehonmononoyouda.
This artificial flower is so well made that it is just like the real thing. neutral
何それ、まるで魔法みたいだね。
nani sore, marude mahou mitai da ne.
What is that? It's like magic. casual
- dictionary form
- past
- negative
- negative + past
- noun
- noun
- noun
- ない-form
- dictionary form
Examples
just like; as if — a comparison the speaker offers knowing it is not literally so
この造花、よくできていて、まるで本物のようだ。
kono zouka, yoku dekite ite, marudehonmononoyouda.
This artificial flower is so well made that it is just like the real thing. neutral
何それ、まるで魔法みたいだね。
nani sore, marude mahou mitai da ne.
What is that? It's like magic. casual
その子は、まるで大人のように落ち着いて話した。
sono ko wa, marude otona no you ni ochitsuite hanashita.
The child spoke as calmly as an adult would. neutral
突然の受賞に、娘はまるで夢を見ているようだと申しておりました。
totsuzen no jushou ni, musume wa marude yume o mite iru you da to moushite orimashita.
On the sudden award, my daughter said it was as though she were dreaming. formal
not in the slightest — before a negative or 違う, the whole degree is denied
説明を三回読んだが、まるで分からない。
setsumei o sankai yonda ga, marude wakaranai.
I read the explanation three times and I don't understand a word of it. neutral
写真で見たのと、まるで違うじゃん。
shashin de mita no to, marude chigau jan.
This is nothing like what I saw in the photo. casual
Formation
まるで{N}のようだattaches to nounまるで{N}みたいだattaches to nounまるで{N}のようにattaches to nounまるで{P}ようだattaches to plain formまるで{V-nai}attaches to ない-formまるで{V}attaches to dictionary form
Related patterns
Similar
In the negative both scale the predicate to zero, but 全然 is the everyday spoken choice while まるで sounds written and emphatic, and まるで keeps its simile use alongside — a reading 全然 never has.
Combines with
ようだ on its own can be a sober inference (雨のようだ "it appears to be raining"); まるで in front rules that reading out and marks the likeness as one the speaker knows to be false.
かのようだ already declares the likeness counterfactual, so まるで adds emphasis rather than meaning — and the pair is the stock written combination, where まるで〜ようだ is the everyday one.
The adverbial route is where まるで does its commonest work — まるで子どものように喜んだ modifies the verb, and only this frame lets the likeness attach to an action rather than to a subject.