14

One friend of mine told me when she was living in Japan, she liked to end her sentences with ん (maybe instead of の).

Examples:

  • 明日学校にいくん？

  • 明日学校に行かないと思う…風邪引いたん。

Actually I've never seen it! But my friend told me they used it!
I just want to know if it's possible. And if Japanese would think it a little strange if I said ん instead of の.

Mechanical snail
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daniel tomio
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3 Answers3

15

Your two examples are incorrect in the “standard” dialect.

Some dialects (such as the Gunma dialect and the Saitama dialect) use ん instead of の in a question as in your first example. The second example may also be used in some dialects.

Tsuyoshi Ito
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  • +1 for mentioning it may be a dialect thing. – Mark Hosang Jun 29 '11 at 06:18
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    How about そうなん？I hear this all the time in Kitakyushu. – phirru Jun 29 '11 at 07:14
  • @phirru: That is the same use as the first example in the question. As I wrote, that is not used in the “standard” dialect. – Tsuyoshi Ito Jun 29 '11 at 12:36
  • maybe this link can help: www.geocities.jp/yumi_yumi56/hiroshima/1.html –  Jul 01 '11 at 03:41
  • In the page it writes あおじ（ぢ）, I was wondering what do they mean when they use the brackets like this . Does it mean あおじ / あおち ? – Pacerier Sep 21 '11 at 18:12
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    Your answer is correct, but gives the wrong impression that it is used only in a few minor dialects (such as Gunma and Saitama dialects). It is in fact used in most of the kansai dialects, and the western part of Japan. Also, it is better to describe the relation between ん and の (deletion of the vowel). –  Dec 26 '11 at 06:45
5

if you wanted to end with just ん without the です you should probably just use the informal of んです which is の

明日学校にいくの？

明日学校に行かないと思う、、、風邪引いたの。

ん like tsuyoshi said, is a dialect version of の seen in various regions of Japan. While it doesn't seem to be used in Aichi, all of my co-workers know of it. So it could be said that you can use it and you will be understood, but it is definately not standard japanese.

hippietrail
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Mark Hosang
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  • A good friend of mine from Aichi uses ん to end sentences all the time. It's possible that he's just imitating other dialects, but I can't say for sure. – rintaun Jun 29 '11 at 10:44
  • @Mark btw do you mean to say that の = んです and 明日学校にいくの = 明日学校にいくんです ? – Pacerier Sep 21 '11 at 16:52
  • yup... that's exactly what i think i was trying to say ;) – Mark Hosang Sep 26 '11 at 15:31
4

I can't think of one time I have heard that...Not to say it hasn't happened. Using the whole んです smoothly was stressed at school, as it makes your Japanese sound really natural. So I think I would notice if I heard someone end on the ん...I would stick to the normal usage until you hear a native speaker use it the way your friend did.

スコット
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