The Final Particle さ
In this lesson, we will learn about the final particle さ. Though part of Standard Japanese, it is also indicative of Eastern Japanese dialects, which includes not only Tokyo Dialect but also dialects spoken further north. Outside those areas, the use of this final particle is not so common, so if you are studying abroad in Osaka or elsewhere further out from the capital region (首都圏), your exposure may be limited to literature, social media, and TV.
This lesson will tackle all there is to know about さ from three separate angles: how さ is practically used, grammatical restrictions that define when it can and cannot be used, as well as dialectal variation.
How to Use さ
The primary purpose of the final particle さ is to draw the listener into what the speaker has to say, and the statement by the speaker itself usually carries a friendly tone. In a sense, the speaker is checking themselves as much as they are letting the listener in on the situation. The statement may even be a retort (反駁) which hints at wanting the listener to rethink.
1. 「テイラー君、マジ遅いなあ。」「あいつなら、そのうち来るさ。」
“Man, Taylor-kun sure is late, huh.” “Knowing him, he’ll show up sooner or later.”
2. 僕にだってやれるさ。
That’s something even I can do!
3. 知ってるさ！きのう見たもんで（さ）！
‘Course I know! I saw it yesterday!
4.「嘘だろう？」「嘘じゃないよ、本当｛さ 〇・わ △｝。
“You’re kidding, right?” “I’m not! It is true.”
5. まじで奇跡・・・先月買ったばかりだからさ・・・
Such a miracle… ‘cause I’d bought it just last month…
This is not to say that さ is completely interchangeable with よ. In Ex. 6, さ is ungrammatical for several reasons. The speaker is clearly not reinforcing a thought in their mind, the statement is not a retort in any way, and it is not that the case that the speaker made the statement to draw the listener in, which would imply that the listener was interested to begin with. Rather, the statement is ultimately concluded with a suggestion, which as we will see later, is also not grammatical with さ.
6. あそこの席は空いてる｛よ 〇・さ X｝。あそこに座ったらどう？
That seat over there is open. Why don’t you sit there?
7. あそこの席なら空いてるさ。あそこに座ってもいいぞ。
If you’re talkin’ about that seat, yep, it’s open alright. You can sit there, y’know.
At times, the statement may sound like a tacked-on reminder, tuning the listener into paying attention without being overbearing, often in suggestions and advise, or it may even indicate how the speaker is confident and happy to make an assertion.
8. というかさ、そういうレースなんじゃないかと思うよ。
I mean, I feel like that’s the kind of race it is.
9. あのさ、これさえ使えれば大丈夫！
Hey, um, you’ll be alright so long as you can use this!
10. もう大丈夫だってさ。
I’m tellin’ ya, it’s already OK.
The overuse of さ may oppositely cause one’s statements to sound flashy and/or superficial. There is a general rule of thumb that one must not overuse any particular final particle, as it is never the case that your mood or the points you are making are inherently always the same. In the case of さ, though, when it does appear in a sentence, especially longer sentences indicative of conversation, once it shows up once, it may appear in several locations in that same sentence.
11. いいさ、いいさ、彼女はプライドが高すぎて他人を見下ろすくせがあるからさあ、少しばっか痛い目に遭ったほうがよっぽど良いだろう。
That’s what I’m talkin’ about; since she’s so prideful and tends to look down on others, it’s probably all the better that she experiences a hardship a bit.
12. というかさあ、そこまで深く考え込まないで（さあ △1）。
I mean, don’t be overthinking it that far.
Often in a more literary, sanctimonious, and/or offhand tone with an effect similar to that of ～（ん）だよ2, さ may create a lighthearted emphasis on some situation.
13. たいしたことないさ！
It ain’t a big deal!
14. この世の美しさは全て 内に悲しみを秘めているのさ
All the beauty in this world conceals sadness within, you see.
From 『虹』by Aqua Timez.
15. 本人は退校になるでしょうかって、それを一番心配しているのさ。
He’s scared silly of being expelled from school; that’s what he’s worrying about the most.
From 『吾輩は猫である』by 夏目漱石.
16.「君も妻君難だろうと云うのさ」
“I’m asking if you, too, are dealing with a troublesome wife.”
From 『吾輩は猫である』by 夏目漱石.
17.「進行させたいのは山々だが、どうしても日が暮れてくれないものだから困るのさ」
Much as I’d like to speed it up, that laggard sun won’t set; its hang-up is most hard to bear.”
From 『吾輩は猫である』by 夏目漱石.
In some regions of Japan such as Okinawa, this can be more extensively heard in the spoken language than is typical in the rest of the country. In this scenario, though, さ is more synonymous with よ or even じゃん depending on the context, though this unique use of さ is fading.
18. おいしいさあ！（沖縄の方言3）
It’s delicious!
19. あんた、言ったさあ！
Didn’t you say that?!
On seldom occasion, you may also hear さ used with a somewhat disappointed tone, which is most commonly encountered when it is elongated and following words which indicate the speaker’s unhappiness. The typical happy tone of さ, though, prevents さ from sounding rude. Rather, the speaker is most effectively describing their disdain without being too upfront.
20. お前さぁ、なにも分かってないな。
Man, you just don’t understand anything.
21. こんなはずじゃなかったのにさぁ。
It wasn’t supposed to end up like this, though…
22. というかさ、君は赤の他人に感情的になりすぎじゃない？
I mean, aren’t you getting too emotional with complete strangers?
There is a perception that the use of さ is stilted toward male speakers. While this may be true in more standardized speech, in regions such as East Japan, Hokkaido, and Okinawa, its used heavily by both men and women.
A truer generalization would be that さ is used in casual non-polite speech. On rare occasion, you may find it in polite speech, but such examples are highly dated and/or dialectal.
23. セス君なら、心配｛要らないさ 〇・要りませんさ ???｝。
If it’s Seth-kun, there’s no need to worry.
24. それは勿論今世間の人の考えてるような山からポッコリ出の人のようなものではありませんさ。
They, of course, are not like the people sticking themselves out from the mountains like what people in this society are thinking of.
From 『志賀直哉集』.
Grammatical Features of さ
The final particle さ may appear in various grammatical situations. Aside from ending a sentence, it may also show up mid-sentence. When in mid-sentence position, it may be inserted almost anywhere where there may be a natural pause, which usually occurs in between clauses, after sentence-initial conjunctions, but also potentially after any complement in a sentence where a speaker may wish to collect their thoughts – similarly to how “like” is used colloquially in English – while also interjecting the tone unique to さ.
■After the Subject/Topic
25. テイラー君さ、自分でパソコンとか作ったりするの？
Hey Taylor-kun, you do stuff like build PCs by yourself?
■After a Dependent Clause
26. 緑に囲まれてさ、のんびりとこういうビルばっかじゃなくて、安らぎを求めたい。
I want to seek tranquility at leisure surrounded by green and not just all these buildings.
■After a Subordinate, Modifying Clause = 被修飾表現の連体形
27. いつもの場所に置いてあるさ、あの充電器はどこ？
Where’s that charger (of mine) that I, you know, put in the same spot?
28. 新宿にあるさ、他にもさ、外国に人気のラーメン店とかは結構濃厚寄りのやつだったりするからさ、一蘭だってそうだしね。
‘Cause of how the ramen shops popular with foreigners, in like Shinjuku and like elsewhere, tend to favor richer (flavor) fairly often, and the same can even be said about Ichiran, y’know?
29. 透き通ってるさ淡麗系細麺のみたいなああいうのとかって何だと思うんだろうね？
Wonder what (people)’d think about those sort of (shops), the ones with the transparent, tanrei-style4 thin noodle stuff or the like?
■After an Interjection
30. あのさ、こういうのは、続けてやんないと気分でないっすね。
Well, you know, this sort of thing is one of those things I don’t feel in the mood if I don’t continue doin’ it.
■After a Conjunction/Conjunctive Particle
31. やらなきゃさ損だろ？
Like, not doin’ it’d be a loss, right?
32. そういえばさ、僕も本当にさっき思い出したんだけどさ、お前さ、犬のフンを踏んじゃったじゃねーか？
Speakin’ of which, and I really did just remember about it just now, but um, hey, didn’t you step in dog crap?
33. だからさ、これで感動するんだったらさ、街中華とかのさ醬油ラーメンとか食べたら、滅茶苦茶感動するんじゃない？
That’s why I’m saying, if you were impressed by this, if you were to eat what’s at a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant or soy-sauce ramen, you’d get super impressed, am I right?
34. 行ったんだけどさこの前、もう８割外国の方だったね。
I went (there), like, not to long ago, but it was easily 80% foreigners there.
■After Quotation ≠ Supposition
35. この店は、来週閉店するんだってさ。
Hey, (they) say this store’s gonna close down next week!
■After Particles (Case, Adverbial, Conjunctive)
36. これもさかなり時間ない中で衣装考えたよね。
You see, I even thought up of this outfit even without much time.
37. 寿司なんてさ、ご飯と酢を混ぜてわさびを乗せて魚の切り身を乗せた料理だよ？
Sushi, you know, is a cuisine where you mix rice and vinegar, put wasabi on it and put slices of fish on it.
38. 塩ラーメンとかさ、全然その軽さはあると思うけど（さ）。
I do think that stuff like shio ramen absolutely has that feeling of being light, but…
39. 先輩も本気じゃないと思うしさぁ。
And I think you, sempai, aren’t serious either.
さ’s Relation w/ Modality
The nature of a sentence with さ need not be limited to basic declarative statements. In fact, it can used with an array of sentence types including but not limited to hearsay (伝聞) and obligation (義務). Even so, its relation with modality endings is not free of restriction. Consider the following:
40a. 明日から雪になるだろう｛よ・さ｝。
40b. 明日から雪になるよう｛だよ 〇・だわ 〇・さ Ｘ｝。
40c. 明日から雪になるらしい｛よ 〇・わ 〇・さ Ｘ｝。
40d. 明日から雪になるそう｛だよ 〇・だわ 〇・さ Ｘ｝。
40a. It’ll probably snow starting tomorrow.
40b. It looks like it’ll snow starting tomorrow.
40c. It seems like it’ll snow starting tomorrow.
40d. I hear it’ll snow starting tomorrow.
41a. 明日から雪になるって｛よ 〇・わ Ｘ・さ 〇｝。
41b. 明日から雪になるんだって｛よ 〇・わ Ｘ・さ 〇｝。
41a. (They) say it’ll snow starting tomorrow!
41b. (They)’re saying it’s gonna snow starting tomorrow!
We see from these examples that さ is ungrammatical with the modal auxiliaries ～ようだ・ らしい・そうだ5 – all evidential markers which indicate ‘how’ a supposition has come about. However, だろう is also a suppositional marker and is grammatical with さ. This can be attributed to how だろう denotes a considerably high level of confidence in the validity of the statement, whereas the other suppositional endings are largely tied to hearsay and potentially shaky observation, which goes against さ’s function of denoting speaker self-assurance. At the same time, we also see that wherever さ cannot be used, わ can – proof of grammatical dynamics beyond the often falsely perceived notion that gender of the speaker is a factor in their distributions6.
This is not to to say statements of hearsay cannot be made, as is indicated by Ex 41. In this scenario, the speaker is very purposely iterating the message to the listener, and we see that instead of those suppositional endings, the citation particle って is used instead to denote the source. The difference between these structures is not superficial as it might seem, as the latter can never be used in a question and still be used with さ.
42. セスさん、結婚するんだってさ。〇（平叙文＝declarative）
Y’know, they’re sayin’ that Seth-san’s getting married.
43. セスさん、いつ彼氏と結婚するんだってさ。X（疑問文 = interrogative）
Y’know, when is it they’re saying that Seth-san’s getting married to his boyfriend? X
Another angle to view modality is by the greater purpose involved. “Modality” is simply the way or mode in which something exists, but grammarians and laymen alike often attribute that to “supposition” (推量) because of the vast utility such endings provide, but there are other connotations out there that fall under this umbrella. さ, in actuality, is only unnatural with statements that pertain to where the speaker got their proof. If it is merely conjecture that the speaker is confident about which both the speaker and the listener have interest, さ can be used with an array of modality structures including those pertaining to likelihood (蓋然性), potential (可能性), and necessity (必然性).
44. 三代続けばそりゃあ奇縁と言えようさ。
If it continues for three generations, by golly, you sure could call that a strange turn of fate.
45. うまくいく筈はあるまいさ。
There is no way it ought to go well.
46. 世界が変わるかもしれないさ！
The world might just change!
47. 愛犬のリリーちゃんが玄関でずっと待っているに違いないさ。
My beloved dog Lilly-chan has definitely been waiting the whole time in the entryway.
48. 住むなら新宿に決まってるさ！
Shinjuku is definitely the place to live!
Sentence Types w/o さ
さ cannot be used with sentences that make requests, greetings, volitional statements, or commands. In these situations, you would need to use another final particle such as ね to soften one’s tone.
49. また来て｛ね 〇・さ X｝！
Come again, k!
さ may also not appear in monologue(-like) outbursts.
50. ああ、腹減ってる｛わ 〇・さ X｝！
Ugh, I’m hungry!
There are also restrictions on the kinds of declarative statements that can be made with さ. As we have seen, the sentence must be something that the speaker and listener have a potential vetted interest in, and as a consequence of this, さ should not be used whenever the declarative statement pertains to something the speaker has determined to be so on the spot. In this scenario, it is not possible for either party to verify whether both are interested in the fact, and it would also not be the case that the statement would be a reflection of the speaker reassuring themselves.
Copula Deletion w/ ～さ
The use of particle さ results in the deletion of the copula だ, and this is likely due to how さ itself sufficiently denotes a declarative statement combined with its unique tone. This deletion of だ occurs with both nouns and adjectival nouns.
51. それは本当ださ。
That is true.
52. 東京は本当にきれいださ。
Tokyo sure is really pretty.
補充疑問文＋～さ
Usually with a literary tone, さ may also appear in supplementary questions (補充疑問文), which is the only situation in which it shows up in questions. In this scenario, さ is always preceded by の, and the question itself, as indicated by the name ‘supplementary question,’ differs from a typical interrogative question by the following features:
i. The final particle か cannot mark this kind of question.
ii. Such questions principally end in the declarative copula in some fashion.
iii. The question with さ must always pertain to the listener’s conduct/rhetoric.
iv. The ‘supplementary’ nature of the question indicates that there is an information deficit in the discourse, thus the question. In other words, the question itself is not the entire context in and of itself.
As the copula is deleted when followed by さ, the second feature of this question type may not appear so obvious, but its effect is still present. さ should not be viewed as a replacement of か, but rather, it tones down this question type that would otherwise end with だ. Imagine it as “so, what exactly are you…?” without the sucker punch effect.
53.てかさ、お前もなんで俺に頼むんだよ！？
What I should be sayin’ is, why are you asking me, too?!
54. これからどうするのさ？
So, what are you going to do now?
55. いくらだ｛よ 〇・さ X｝？
How much is it?!
56. 何さ、あんなやつめ！
The heck is with that guy?!
Dialectal USE
In Standard Japanese, さ does not combine with other final particles; however, in other dialects, this affinity appears to be challenged in the following structures.
57. そうさね。
That’s right.
58. ここはお城みたいだべさ！（北海道弁）
This place is like a castle!
59.「まあ、いいさね。それで？」と老婆は微笑みながら言った。
“My, how nice. And then?” the old lady asked with a smile.
60. だから、金さえ残すつもりなきゃ、グアム島へ行って山の上に自分の食うもんだけ作って生活してりゃ、こんな楽なことねえわさ。
That’s why, if you don’t have the intent of at least saving some money, it won’t be so easy like this when you head to Guam and live off just cultivating what you need to eat in the mountains.
From 『「文芸春秋」にみる昭和史』by 横井庄一.
Conversely, because さ is not utilized at all in large swaths of Japan, this is also likely a major factor into why many perceive it as being stilted to male demographics.
参照
終助詞「さ」の本質的機能─認識的モダリティとの共起関係に着目して─ by 蓮沼昭子
- Overuse of さ can be indicative of a stylized manner of talking (役割語), as is often encountered in anime/manga. In such situations, grammatical restrictions such as さ not being used with commands/requests can be bent provided さ gives off such a flashy impression. ↩︎
- This is not to say that this usage of さ cannot appear in the spoken language, but such examples will be dated, as is evident by the examples provided. ↩︎
- Not to be confused with the Okinawan Language (沖縄口). ↩︎
- While 淡麗 directly translates as “light and refined,” its use in culinary terms can be very difficult to translate. When referring to sake, it may be viewed as meaning “smooth and refreshing,” whereas with noodles, it refers to when the broth has been simmered thoroughly to the point that it is no longer murky/cloudy in color, producing a “clear”-colored broth. ↩︎
- Naturality of the use of さ does increase if these suppositional endings are followed by の and in dialects such as Okinawa Dialect in which さ does become more synonymous in function to よ. ↩︎
- This should not downplay the honest opinions of speakers who may feel otherwise, as this final particle exhibits severe dialectal difference in frequency of use, which also separates it from similar particles like よ and わ. However, one must also not conflate frequency of use with the demographics of said speakers who do use it, for the same reason that this too is subject to dialectal variance. Moreover, the legitimate grammatical differences that each final particle possesses should never be overlooked. ↩︎