Understanding 'ありのままで'


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.




  * **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).

