Understanding the usage of もう with present tense verbs


I think when a lot of people first learn もう it's as "already', right? There's
also the meanings of "anymore", "soon", "now", "more', "another" and its use
as an interjection. That's a lot of meaning packed in one small word, I think,
and personally I get easily confused whenever I see it. In particular, the use
of もう to mean "already", and its use with certain verbs constantly confound
me.

My question concerns the use of もう with certain verbs and its meaning in those
contexts. I'm not sure if there's a specific term for the type I mean but two
examples are 止める and 諦める. (Edit:My reasoning is that these verbs are similar
to negative form verbs on their own. I'm wondering if due to that property I
should understand them the same way I understand もう我慢できない (can't take it
anymore) and もうするな (don't do that anymore).) Specifically when used with these
verbs in their present tense form how should I interpret もう? I'll give some
examples:

>   1. 日本語を学ぶのは難しすぎるよ。もうやめる！
>   2. 私はそれをもう諦める
>   3. もうこの男のことは諦めろ
>   4. もうほっといてくれ！
>

I hope that's enough examples. My question is how to interpret and translate
those usages of もう. Are these translations correct?

>   1. Learning Japanese is too hard. I quit already!
>   2. I'm going to give up on that already.
>   3. Give up on this man already
>   4. Leave me alone already!
>

None of those translations seem correct to me, but I'm not sure how else to
translate them. Wouldn't もう here rather be closer in meaning to "anymore"?
Like in example 1, doesn't this translation make more sense: "Learning
Japanese is too hard. I'm not gonna do it anymore!"? I just don't see how
"already" is what's intended, yet I'm also not sure that's it's not.

I apologize if my questions are unclear. I wasn't sure how to best word my
doubts about もう. I feel I lack a basic understanding of it, but dictionaries
and guides haven't proved sufficient for me. If I was unclear on anything or
my question is written poorly please feel free to ask for clarification.




As you were alluding to in one of your comments, もう when used in conjunction
with a present tense (I prefer the term "imperfective" as it's not really
present tense - there being another form for an action that is specifically
presently happening...) _does_ have that connotation in Japanese that the
action should not be continued anymore.

In my experience, it is best not to try and one-for-one words across
languages, as there's just really not a clean translation many times. It's
best to translate things in context, understanding what the speaker is
attempting to communicate.

I think where this gets tricky (as you mentioned) is when もう is used in the
negative, the word "already" just doesn't seem to fit so nicely as a one-for-
one replacement. If you'd like my best stab at how もう really works.. it's not
really modifying the verb.. it's more describing the situational/contextual
setup or "feeling" of the situation. And, when you look at it in this way, you
no longer are bound to the conjugation of the verb to explain why the
translation of もう changes from situation to situation.

I hope that makes sense/is helpful.

