JLPT N3 Grammar Point: ~ppanashi (〜っぱなし)

Have you ever heard this phrase in a Japanese sentence before, but didn’t know what it meant: 何々っぱなし〜?   Maybe you were able to catch the general meaning or implication, but you weren’t sure what 〜っぱなし(ppanashi) means?  っぱなし is a JLPT N3 level Grammar point, and this article will be giving a run down of it’s uses.
First let’s look at what it is used for:

JLPT N3 Grammar Point: What are the Uses of 〜っぱなし (~ppanashi)?

The first thing you should know is that generally, っぱなし carries a negative association. っぱなし is used when something is done that should not be done, or when something has should be done is or was not done. It expresses a kind of negative feeling or expresses that something was kind of bad.
Let’s take a look at a few examples of how you can use 〜っぱなし in your daily conversations!

〜っぱなし: Example 1

Let’s say you left the window open before you left on you lunch break, and the office got freezing cold – You can use っぱなし to explain your mistake to a co-worker like so:
なんか寒くないですか？ (isn’t it kind of cold in here?)
あ、ごめんなさい！窓を開けっぱなしにしていました！(Oh, I’m so sorry! I left the window open)
窓を開けっぱなし (mado o ake ppanashi)
Using ~ppanashi in this way lets the listener know it was an accident or something that should not have been done.

〜っぱなし: Example 2

Someone left the water running?
In the video below Yuka sensei uses the example of someone leaving the water running when she tries to go wash her hands.
誰か水を出しっぱなしですね。(dare ka mizu o dashippanashi desu ne)
“Someone left the water running”
The use of っぱなし(~ppanashi) after 水を出し (mizu o dashi) conveys a negative feeling, even a hint of annoyance at the previous sink user and their negligence.
Check it out in the video below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTYqNZcpJ64&t=93s

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