Guide to Japanese

Unintended Actions

This is the first of many useful tools that will become essential in your day-to-day conversations. We will now learn how to express an action that has taken place unintentionally often with unsatisfactory results. This is primarily done by the verb しまう. Let’s look at an example.

Vocabulary

康介(こう・すけ)
Kousuke (first name)
宿題(しゅく・だい)
homework
やる u-verb
to do
しまう u-verb
to do something by accident; to finish completely
康介(こう・すけ) Kousuke
宿題をやった？
Did you do homework?
アリス(a ri su) Alice
しまった！
Oh no! (I screwed up!)

Using しまう with other verbs

Vocabulary

しまう u-verb
to do something by accident; to finish completely
その
that （abbr. of それの）
ケーキ(ke e ki)
cake
全部(ぜん・ぶ)
everything
食べる(た・べる) ru-verb
to eat
毎日(まい・にち)
everyday
キロ(ki ro)
kilo
太る(ふと・る) u-verb
to become fatter
ちゃんと
properly
痩せる(や・せる) ru-verb
to become thin
結局(けっ・きょく)
eventually
嫌(いや) na-adj
disagreeable; unpleasant
こと
event, matter
する exception
to do
ごめん
sorry
待つ(ま・つ) u-verb
to wait
金魚(きん・ぎょ)
goldfish
もう
already
死ぬ(し・ぬ) u-verb
to die

When しまう is used in this sense, it is normal to attach it to the te-form of another verb to express an action that is done or happened unintentionally. As is common with this type of grammar, the tense is decided by the tense of しまう.

  1. そのケーキを全部食べてしまった。
    Oops, I ate that whole cake.

  2. 毎日ケーキを食べて、２キロ太ってしまいました。
    I ate cake everyday and I (unintentionally) gained two kilograms.

  3. ちゃんと食べないと、痩せてしまいますよ。
    If you don’t eat properly, you’ll (unintentionally) lose weight you know.

  4. 結局、嫌なことをさせてしまった。
    In the end, I (unintentionally) made [someone] do something distasteful.

  5. ごめん、待たせてしまって！
    Sorry about (unintentionally) making you wait!

  6. 金魚がもう死んでしまった。
    The goldfish died already (oops).

Using the casual version of ～てしまう

Vocabulary

しまう na-adj
to do something by accident; to finish completely
金魚(きん・ぎょ)
goldfish
もう
already
死ぬ(し・ぬ) u-verb
to die
帰る(かえ・る) u-verb
to go home
いい i-adj
good
皆(みんな)
everybody
どっか
somewhere （abbr. of どこか）
行く(い・く) u-verb
to go
そろそろ
gradually; soon
遅い(おそ・い) i-adj
late
なる u-verb
to become
また
again
遅刻(ち・こく)
tardiness
する exception
to do
ごめん
sorry
つい
just (now); unintentionally
お前(お・まえ)
you (casual)
呼ぶ(よ・ぶ) u-verb
to call

In casual speech, the ～てしまう is often substituted by ～ちゃう while ～でしまう is substituted by じゃう. Both ～ちゃう and ～じゃう conjugate just like regular u-verbs.

  1. 金魚がもう死んじゃった。
    The goldfish died already.

  2. もう帰っちゃっていい？
    Is it ok if I went home already?

  3. みんな、どっか行っちゃったよ。
    Everybody went off somewhere.

  4. そろそろ遅くなっちゃうよ。
    It’ll gradually become late, you know.

There is yet another very colloquial version of ～てしまう and ～でしまう where it is replaced by ～ちまう and ～じまう respectively. Unlike the cuter ～ちゃう and ～じゃう slang, this version conjures an image of rough and coarse middle-aged man.

  1. また遅刻しちまったよ。
    Darn, I’m late again.

  2. ごめん、ついお前を呼んじまった。
    Sorry, I just ended up calling you unconsciously.

Another meaning of しまう

Vocabulary

しまう u-verb
to do something by accident; to finish completely
宿題(しゅく・だい)
homework
やる u-verb
to do

You may have noticed that しまう has another definition meaning “to finish something completely”. You may want to consider this a totally separate verb from the しまう we have covered so far. Occasionally but not usually, しまう will have this meaning rather than the unintended action.

  • 宿題をやってしまいなさい。
    Finish your homework completely.