相変わらず（あいかわらず、aikawarazu）
- as usual

The Japanese word 相変わらず (あいかわらず) means "as always," "as ever," "still," or "the same as before." It indicates that a situation, condition, or state continues without significant change. It often implies that something is happening in a way that is expected or typical, whether positive, negative, or neutral. It can describe both things that are desirable and undesirable.

⚫︎ 彼は相変わらず忙しいです。 Translation: He's as busy as ever. ⚫︎ 相変わらず美味しいですね！ Translation: It's as delicious as always! (or: Still delicious!) ⚫︎ 彼女は相変わらず元気です。 Translation: She's still doing well.

⚫︎ You use 相変わらず to express that something remains unchanged from a previous time or a known state. ⚫︎ It can refer to habits, situations, feelings, or appearances. ⚫︎ It's commonly used in both formal and informal conversation, depending on the context. ⚫︎ It often comes at the beginning of a sentence or phrase, or can also modify a verb. For example, you can say 相変わらず＋verb or 動詞相変わらず.

⚫︎ 相変わらず is primarily written in kanji and hiragana. ⚫︎ Kanji: 相変わらず ⚫︎ Hiragana: あいかわらず ⚫︎ There are no other common ways to write this word, and the okurigana (suffix hiragana) is fixed.

⚫︎ いつも通り (itsumo doori) - as usual ⚫︎ 変わらず (kawarazu) - without change, as before ⚫︎ 前と変わらず (mae to kawarazu) - unchanged from before ⚫︎ これまで通り (kore made doori) - as before, as up to now

⚫︎ 変わった (kawatta) - changed ⚫︎ 以前と違う (izen to chigau) - different from before ⚫︎ Words indicating change or improvement can function as antonyms depending on the context.

彼は相変わらずゲームばかりしています。 ・Translation: He's still only playing games. ・Explanation: This sentence indicates that the person's habit of playing games has not changed.

最近は相変わらず忙しい日が続いています。 ・Translation: Recently, I've been having busy days as always. ・Explanation: The speaker is conveying that the busyness continues.

⚫︎ 相 (ai) means "each other" or "together." ⚫︎ 変わる (kawaru) means "to change." ⚫︎ らず (-razu) is a suffix indicating "not." ⚫︎ Therefore, the word literally means "not changing each other" or "not changing as a whole", hence the meaning of "as always" or "unchanged".