～まま
as is / unchanged state
～まま says that a state stays unchanged while something else happens. It usually follows a verb in the た-form or ない-form, or a noun plus の.
In English it often comes out as “with ... still on”, “as it is”, or “without doing”.
1. た-form + まま: a state left in place
After the た-form, まま means the result of that action is still in effect while the main action happens.
靴を履いたまま入らないで。
“Don't come in with your shoes on.”
- 靴（くつ）= shoes
- を = object marker
- 履いた（はいた）= put on (and still wearing)
- まま = as is / unchanged
- 入らないで（はいらないで）= don't come in
テレビをつけたまま寝てしまった。
“I fell asleep with the TV on.”
- テレビ = TV
- を = object marker
- つけた = turned on (and left on)
- まま = as is
- 寝てしまった（ねてしまった）= ended up falling asleep
2. ない-form or noun + のまま: unchanged from before
With a ない-form verb, まま means “without doing”. With a noun plus の, it means something is still just as that noun describes.
彼は何も言わないまま帰った。
“He went home without saying anything.”
- 彼（かれ）= he
- は = topic marker
- 何も（なにも）= nothing (with a negative)
- 言わない（いわない）= not say
- まま = as is / without change
- 帰った（かえった）= went home
Note the difference from ～ながら: ～ながら joins two actions the same person is actively doing at the same time, while ～まま describes a state that is simply left as it is in the background.
How to form it
Verb た-form / ない-form + まま, or Noun + のまま
- 履く（はく）= to put on (shoes) → 履いたまま（はいたまま）= with (shoes) still on
- 言わない（いわない）= not say → 言わないまま（いわないまま）= without saying
- 昔（むかし）= long ago → 昔のまま（むかしのまま）= just as it was long ago
Key idea
Think of まま as pressing pause on a state: whatever situation was created (having shoes on, TV on, nothing said) stays frozen exactly as it is while the rest of the sentence happens.
Other N4 grammar
Updated .