Oops! I screwed up.

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Unintended Actions
Using 「しまう」 with other verbs
Using the casual version of 「～てしまう」
Another meaning of 「しまう」

Unintended Actions

This is the first of many useful tools that will become essential in your day-to-day conversations. We will now learn how to express an action that has taken place unintentionally often with unsatisfactory results. This is primarily done by the verb 「」. Let's look at an example.

康介：　宿題をやった？- Did you do homework?
アリス：　しまった！- Oh no! (I screwed up!)

Using 「しまう」 with other verbs

When 「」 is used in this sense, it is normal to attach it to the te-form of another verb to express an action that is done or happened unintentionally. As is common with this type of grammar, the tense is decided by the tense of 「」.

（１）　そのケーキを全部食べてしまった。- Oops, I ate that whole cake.
（２）　毎日ケーキを食べて、２キロ太ってしまいました。- I ate cake everyday and I (unintentionally) gained two kilograms.
（３）　ちゃんと食べないと、痩せてしまいますよ。- If you don't eat properly, you'll (unintentionally) lost weight you know.
（４）　結局、嫌なことをさせてしまった。- In the end, I (unintentionally) made [someone] do something distasteful.
（５）　ごめん、待たせてしまって！ - Sorry about (unintentionally) making you wait!
（６）　金魚がもう死んでしまった。 - The goldfish died already (oops).

If you want to see many more examples, look up 「しまう」 on WWWJDIC and click the [EX] link. There are over 100 examples with translations for you to enjoy.

Using the casual version of 「～てしまう」

In casual speech, the 「～て」 is often substituted by 「～ちゃう」 while 「～で」 is substituted by 「じゃう」. Both 「～ちゃう」 and 「～じゃう」 conjugate just like regular u-verbs.

（１）　金魚がもう死んじゃった。- The goldfish died already.
（２）　もう帰っちゃっていい？- Is it OK if I went home already?
（３）　みんな、どっか行っちゃったよ。- Everybody went off somewhere.
（４）　そろそろ遅くなっちゃうよ。- It'll gradually become late, you know.

There is yet another very colloquial version of 「～てしまう」 and 「～でしまう」 where it is replaced by 「～ちまう」 and 「～じまう」 respectively. Unlike, the cuter 「～ちゃう」 and 「～じゃう」 slang, this version conjures a image of rough and course middle-aged man.
（１）　また遅刻しちまったよ。- Darn, I'm late again.
（２）　ごめん、ついお前を呼んじまった。- Sorry, I just ended up calling you unconsciously.

Another meaning of 「しまう」

If you look up 「」, the edict dictionary will say:
【】 (v5u) (uk) to finish; to close; to do something completely; to put away; to put an end to;
You may want to consider this a totally separate verb from the 「」 we have covered so far. Occasionally but not usually, 「」 will have this meaning rather than the unintended action.

（１）　宿題をやってしまいなさい。- Finish your homework completely.

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