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In Super Mario RPG Kinopio is watching Mario explain what happened at Koopa castle. Mario then implies the castle bridge has fallen down and Kinopio responds with this: enter image description here

I think he is saying:

  1. "Koopa castle, really no way!?"(implying the bridge has fallen)
  2. "hmmmmm"
  3. "Until now, that is not the (usual) pattern."

I am not sure about the first part of Line 3[いままでになかった]. I think いままで is supposed to be 今まで. However, I do not understand what になかった is.

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    You should also be aware that pattern doesn't mean pattern like we think of it in English. It's often used more like way. So a much more natural translation would be "It's never happened this way (or like this) before"
    – By137
    Jul 7, 2021 at 3:28
  • If you got confused by に, this is a case in which まで and までに are kind of interchangeable.
    – aguijonazo
    Jul 7, 2021 at 9:04
  • @aguijonazo You're correct, I am confused about the に. It is strange for me to see a に particle followed by a past-negative. I may have found a match for this on Jisho however. Is this the same thing? jisho.org/word/…
    – Grumpy Bread
    Jul 7, 2021 at 21:41
  • Yes, it is the same. I’m wondering how much difference you see in “It hasn’t happened by now” and “It hasn’t happened till/until now.” Does one sound significantly more natural than the other? Search results seem to favor “by”.
    – aguijonazo
    Jul 8, 2021 at 5:42
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    @aguijonazo "It hasn't happened by now" and "It hasn't happened until now" sound totally different to my ear. "It hasn't happened by now" would mean the event hasn't happened. "It hasn't happened until now" means that the event happened now and it's the first time ever. Additionally, the "by now" version sounds a little incomplete, like I feel like it would need some more to it, such as "If it hasn't happened by now, then it won't ever happen." whereas "It hasn't happened until now" is fine standing on its own. That may be just a small nuance thing though.
    – Leebo
    Jul 8, 2021 at 6:18

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You pretty much have it... Yes いままで is the same as 今まで. And Here it is used as a point in time for relative to なかった. なかった simply meaning something did not exist in the past. So put together it is "A pattern we haven't seen until now."

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  • Thank you. I have asked aguijonazo as well about に + なかった as I'm not sure how they are connected and if this is a normal なかった. I feel confused because I have never seen a particle in between a word and a negative-past expression so I feel like I'm missing something.
    – Grumpy Bread
    Jul 7, 2021 at 23:06
  • Cant say with confidence but it could be this. まで means until a time and までに means BY a time. As in submit your report BY monday. 月曜日までにレポートを提出してください
    – Lucas
    Jul 7, 2021 at 23:48

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