さ (Interjection)

All right, There we go, Now, You see, Well (I don't know, let me see)

Generally, the lengthened “さあ” is used more often than the shorter “さ”

Structure

さあ + Phrase

⁽¹⁾ さ、さぁ、さあ、さー

Details

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About さ - Interjection

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 - To 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 first meaning (to invite or draw attention). In English, this is usually translated as 'there we go', 'ok then', or 'well you see'. さ (or sometimes さあ) will come at the beginning of a sentence, before the point that the speaker would like to highlight is explained.

さーさー、遠慮(えんりょ)をせずにどんどん食(た)べてください。
There we go! Please eat a lot without holding back.
さあ、そろそろ行(い)きますか。
Okay then, should we go soon?

Caution

This さ and the さ used for expressing confusion or bewilderment are often used interchangeably. When drawing attention, it comes across like 'well you see', but when expressing confusion, it is closer to 'well let me see'. The latter has a slight nuance of 'let me think about my answer first'.

あのさ、昨日(きのう)は暑(あつ)さに負(ま)けて倒(たお)れちゃった。
Well, you see… I lost to the heat yesterday and passed out. (Yesterday, I passed out due to the heat)
さあ、それはどうでしょう？私(わたし)に聞(き)いてもわからないよ。
Well let me see… I don't know about that. Even if you ask me I wouldn't have a clue.

Synonyms

Examples

「さあ、仕事(しごと)を始(はじ)めよう。」
'Alright, let's start working!'
「さあ、行(い)きましょう。」
'Alright, let's go!'
「あの人、誰(だれ)？」
「さあ…」
'Who is that person?'
'Well… '
「足(あし)は（どう）？」
「大丈夫(だいじょうぶ)よ。さあ早(はや)く…」
'(How is) your leg?'
'It is ok. Now, quickly…'
夏休(なつやす)みの後(あと)：「さぁ、学校(がっこう)に戻(もど)るぞ！」
After summer vacation: 'Well, time to go back to school!'
さ is often used with the masculine ぞ sentence ender which is used to express intent or persuade someone to go along with an action.
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さ - Interjection – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (4 in total)

nekoyama
About 2 years ago
An injury or some other problem (like being tired) is what I’d automatically assume from a question like “足は？” even without the context telling me that the answer is 大丈夫 and not something like ２本ありますよ. To me the dialog without the どう reads like an exchange in an anime where the party is running away from something, and the hero is trying to downplay an injured leg.
musera
About 2 years ago
Admittedly most my native materials are anime, manga and games. So I know my exposure isn’t great.

From my skewed experiences, どう is often said even when context allows it to be left out. Was left with the impression that is was natural to say it, maybe I’m way off though and will be laughed at by natives in the future.
Daru
About 1 year ago
@nekoyama @musera
Adding どう？ definietly emphazises any request for information. It becomes further emphazised with だ・です. For example:

ケーキは？ How’s the cake?
ケーキはどう？ Hows the cake? [Did you like the cake?]
ケーキはどうだ？ How’s the cake? [HEY. I really need to know whether or not you liked the cake.]

Source: a Japanese friend of mine told me I was being too intense with my request for confirmation on how good something I cooked was