Ask-a-Teacher Question

<< more questions for course 3

Question to Teacher: What's the difference between "Yappari" and "Sasuga"?
Course 3 Lesson 8: The Music Teacher (New Words)

Hollyman

Post Date: 2009-06-11 20:22:10

save to notebook

saved questions

member since
2009 Mar 22

Questions: 3
Comments: 0

I keep hearing those words in anime.

Was this question helpful to you?

JFZ_George

Post Date: 2009-06-12 09:49:50

member since
1997 Aug 25

Questions: 22
Comments: 2701

Woah... great question.
They are actually totally different.

Yappari

is listed in the YesJapan dictionary as "also" but this is not what it means. It really means "as I thought".

There are some other meanings:
also; as I thought; still; in spite of; absolutely; of course

I commonly use it as "as I thought" although the word YAPPARI is very nuanced. And by that I mean it can mean different things based on the subject matter and how it's used. A nuanced word generally means the meaning is open to interpretation.

YAPPARI IKANAI MITAI.
As I thought, they are not going.

YAPPARI OMOSHIROI.
(depending on the prior conversation this could mean different things)

1. In spite of what I thought, this was interesting.
2. As I thought, this was interesting.

YAPPARI is also very commonly used alone in response to what someone says. YAPPARI! (just like I thought!)

An interesting side note on YAPPARI. Did you know there are different versions of this word?

やはり YAHARI
やはし YAHASHI
やっぱし YAPPASHI

Now on to SASUGA. The dictionary says it is "As one would expect". But that doesn't really do it justice.

SASUGA is a complimentary term said about someone and it means "only that person could have done that thing".

Person A: 問題を解けた！もんだいをとけた。 Mondai o toketa.
I figured out the problem!

Person B: さすが！ Sasuga!
Only you could have!

Certainly it can be translated as "As one would expect" but until I looked it up in the dictionary I never know that was it's official translation. It makes sense though since there are certainly times where that translation works great.

Again this is a nuanced word. Not as nuanced as YAPPARI.
I hope this answer has brought you closer to knowing when SASUGA is uses versus YAPPARI.

George @ YesJapan.com

Hope this helps.

George @ YesJapan.com