さ is a 感動詞(かんどうし) (interjection) in Japanese that has three primary uses. These are as follows:
誘(さそ)い、促(うなが)し - To invite, incite, or draw attention to something.
驚(おどろ)き、当惑(とうわく)し - The express surprise, confusion, or bewilderment.
話(はなし)の流(なが)れ
を抑(おさ)える - To control or keep in check the flow of a conversation.
In this lesson, we will be focusing on the second meaning (to express surprise, confusion, or bewilderment). In English, this is used in a very similar way to ‘like’, ‘you know’, ‘uhh’, and other short phrases that are employed when a speaker is searching for the right thing to say, and is filling the silence. This
さ may be used in any position within a sentence, simply to create thinking time.
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あのさ、私(わたし)さあ、この前(まえ)さあ、お金(かね)貸(か)したじゃん?あれさあ、返(かえ)してくれない?
Hey, um…. I, uhh, lent you, like, money before, right? You know… can you give that back to me?
ね~聞(き)いてよ。彼女(かのじょ)がさ、急(きゅう)に別(わか)れたいっていって来(き)たんだけどどうすればいいの。
Heyyy, listen to this. You know my girlfriend? She suddenly came to me saying that she wants to break up with me, what should I do.
The ‘confusion’ that this
さ expresses is not necessarily a bad thing, and is used by many people to simply express that they have not finished talking yet.
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来週(らいしゅう)箱根(はこね)に行(い)くんだけどさ…どこか美味(おい)しいところ知(し)らない?
I am going to Hakone next week, soooo… Do you know any good restaurants?
夜中(よなか)に急(きゅう)に娘(むすめ)から電話(でんわ)が来(き)てさあ...本当(ほんとう)にビックリしたよ。
You know, my daughter suddenly called me in the middle of the night, and… I was really worried.