Use of まま in Japanese


I was watching an anime and the character said something along the lines of
"私{わたし}は、このままでいいの". This translated into something like "Do I really want
things to stay like this?" But what does まま do in this sentence? Does it mean
to keep something in the state as it already is?

I feel like this is kind of a weird word since there's no direct Japanese-
English translation.

Would this also work in past tense?




まま literally means "condition" or "state", or if you want to go fancy, "state
of affairs."

Thus,

このまま = things being how they are  
このままで = keeping things how they are/things staying the way they are  
私はこのままでいいの？ = Is it okay for me, if things stay the way they are? (the
translation you saw essentially says the same thing)

So your understanding is pretty good.

I am not sure what exactly your last question is about. Do you mean to ask if
まま can be used to talk about past events? Yes.

> そのままでよかったのに  
>  would have been nice if (things/I/you/someone/something) had stayed like
> that




まま literally means "condition" or "state", or if you want to go fancy, "state
of affairs."

Thus,

このまま = things being how they are  
このままで = keeping things how they are/things staying the way they are  
私はこのままでいいの？ = Is it okay for me, if things stay the way they are? (the
translation you saw essentially says the same thing)

So your understanding is pretty good.

I am not sure what exactly your last question is about. Do you mean to ask if
まま can be used to talk about past events? Yes.

> そのままでよかったのに  
>  would have been nice if (things/I/you/someone/something) had stayed like
> that

