さ・さぁ・さあ

About

さ is a casual particle/sentence ender, and has three main uses:

• 

  ① at the start of a sentence as an interjection

• 

  ② at the end of a sentence as a sentence ender

• 

  ③ in the middle of a sentence as filler

For usages ① and ③, さ is often lengthened, and this pronunciation can be written as 「さぁ」, 「さあ」, or 「さー」.

さ ① is used as an interjection when the speaker wants to introduce a new topic, move a discussion along, or draw attention to the following sentence. This is similar to "Well then.../Okay..." in English.

E.g. さぁ出発しゅっぱつしようか！ "Okay, shall we head out?!"

In polite situations, さて can be used in place of さ for use as an interjection (①).

E.g. さて、そろそろ帰かえりましょうか。 "Well then, shall we get going?"

When used as a sentence ender (②), さ can add different nuances to a sentence. Most commonly, assertiveness, with a similar tone to the よ particle. Another is to express that what the speaker is saying is hearsay.

E.g. 英語えいご？もちろん話はなせるさ！ "English? Of course, I can speak it!"

E.g. バナナカフェで新商品しんしょうひんが出でたんだってさ。 "I think I heard that Banana Cafe's got some new items."

さ's use as filler (③) is very casual, and functions similarly to "like/y'know" in English.

E.g. 私わたしさー、今月こんげつで会社かいしゃ辞やめることになった。 "I like, decided to leave my company after this month."

Summary

• 

  さ is a casual particle/sentence ender

• 

  さ has three main uses: ① at the start of a sentence as an interjection, ② at the end of a sentence as a sentence ender, and ③ in the middle of a sentence as filler

• 

  For usages ① and ③, さ is often lengthened to 「さあ・さぁ・さー」