How do I convey false impressions with まるで


I'm struggling with まるで～ようだ a lot. A lot of resources say that it means 'as
if.'

Do I really need まるで to convey the "as if" nuance? I thought that ようだ already
means 'like/as if.'

> 彼はまるで答えを知っているようだ。  
>  It's as if he knows/knew the answer.

> 彼は答えを知っているようだ。  
>  he seems to know the answer.

Is there any difference between the two sentences?




ようだ basically just means "looks/sounds/seems". まるで is a guiding adverb that
indicates the following part is not a real description but a
figurative/metaphorical expression.

The use of まるで may or may not change the meaning of the sentence. For example,
夢のようだ and まるで夢のようだ are usually not very different because 夢のようだ is almost
always a figurative expression said when something wonderful happened _in
reality_. Here, まるで does nothing but adding a small emphasis.

On the other hand, the two sentences you gave are very different in meaning.

>   1. 彼はまるで答えを知っているようだ。  
>  It's as if he knew the answer.
>   2. 彼は答えを知っているようだ。  
>  He seems to know the answer.
>

Sentence 1 means he doesn't actually know the answer, while Sentence 2 means
he probably knows the answer. Here まるで indicates 答えを知っている is not a true
description. In English, this is done by "as if" or "as though".

Sometimes, a sentence using ようだ may look ambiguous (to English speakers). For
example, 彼は死んでいるようだ may mean "He looks as if he were dead" or "He seems to be
dead" depending on the situation. With まるで, the sentence will only mean the
former. But when he is clearly alive and everyone knows 死んでいる is merely a
figure of speech, まるで is not necessary nor important.

