Use of "Sa"

Hello all! ^^


Ah yes, a question: Seems to be a part of the Tokyo-ben, and the equivalent of "like" in English, this use of [sa].


In regards to being questioned about your foreign language abilities:

In present form: ﾍﾟﾗﾍﾟﾗじゃないさ　Seems kinda wrong but　(Maybe it isn'ｔ）:

ペラペラじゃなくてさ。。。seems better. Does those two have the same meaning?　(Is that even a correct sentence?) Maybe I should use the ending with something else but I can't think of good sentences right now lol.

But,

In past tense ペラペラじゃなかったさ。。。でも今ペラペラです。Seems right.　Is it?

Are there any specific speech patterns for incorporating [さ] in your speech? Or can you add it to anything? lol

This "...sa" is used to add either (1) a light-hearted tone or (2) for emphasis (the same as "...yo). It's like ".... ya know?" at the end of a sentence.

ペラペラじゃないさ　ペラペラじゃないよ are both OK.

ペラペラじゃなくてさ・・・ needs something after it. Since you are saying "nakute...." you are saying "I'm not fluent, but instead..." so something would naturally come after it.

ペラペラじゃなかったさ・・・sounds OK if the whole speech is in casual style (you have "...desu" in the second half so it doesn't really fit).

I cannot come up with patterns for adding "sa," but please note that it can sound very casual :)