Difference between まじ（で）and まさか！
 

What is the difference between the two (if any) when it comes to まじ（で）and まさか？

I hear these both in the context I think they mean 'no way? seriously?!?' but more shocked and informal than say 本当に.

Thanks :)

seriously.

Could it be?

Im finding it hard too.

「まさか！」 when said in an exclamation always means "No way!", "You can't be serious!", etc. You are not really asking the other guy if what he said is true.

「マジで」 means two different things depending on how it is pronounced.
Rising intonation: "Really?", "Are you serious?", "Is that true?", etc.
Flat intonation: "It's true", "I am serious.", "It's really like that.", etc.

The phrase 「マジで」 is only about 25-30 years old. When I was a kid, people said 「本当に」. As you stated, 「マジで」 is used only in casual speech.

if you're in kansai say ほんまかいな？？ to get a laugh (^-^)v

Thanks, that clears it up :D :ywave:

Or if you're a real cool cat, keep the で off and just use マジ!

For me, まさか is something I would use (or expect to be used) when the thing said is truly unbelievable.
マジ is more when it`s surprising, but not quite as far fetched.

Another thing to note is that まさか is something you can use when the subject is yourself. It can be just an expression of complete dismissal - as the topic would never happen, don`t be silly.

ie:

「ともちゃんのお兄さんと付き合ってるの？」
「まさか～」

「ともちゃんが留年だって」
「え、マジで?」

本当に is fine. You`ll also probably hear 本気(で).
正気か is pretty common among (my) friends. :) It falls into the same kind of meaning as "Are you insane?"

If you're supercool you'll say アーユーシリアス？ ;)

More like アンビリーバボー. ;)

MASAKA YOUR NIHONGO IS SUGOI!1