Colloquializations

Table of Contents

This page explains some common colloquializations and abbreviations.
As these are colloquializations, they are for the most part, spoken only.

って

They said
と言っている → って

As discussed on the という page, と is very frequently abbreviated as って in informal speech.
One application of this is that you can use って to quote just like と.
This leads us to って, which can appear at the end of a sentence to make it a quote, and imply it is what someone said.
This is particularly common with gossip.

Examples

部長はやめるって – The chief said he was going to quit.
彼女はもうすぐ到着するって – She said she’s almost here.
アイスクリームを買ったって – They said they bought ice cream.
来年アメリカに帰るって – They said they are going to return to America next year.

たって

ても/でも
Verb ても → たって
Verb でも → だって

たって is just an abbreviation of ても.
You may be curious as to how an abbreviation is longer than what it shortens.
This is because たって is slightly easier to say than ても, so it abbreviates effort.
たって also feels slightly stronger than ても.

Note that でも ending words become だって.

Examples

謝ったってゆるさない – Even if you apologize, I won’t forgive you.
泳いだって渡れない – Even if you swim you can’t cross.
笑ったって、泣いたって、なんだって大丈夫 – Laugh, cry, whatever is ok.

だって

でも/だと
Noun + でも → Noun + だって
Sentence + だと → Sentence + だって

だって can be an abbreviation of でも (Noun + でも) or an abbreviation of だと

As でも

This だってis a little stronger than でも since it tends to be said in a stronger voice.

かれだってできる – Even he can do it.
どこだって行ける – We can go anywhere.
やったのは彼だって彼女だってない – The one who did it was neither him nor her.

As だと

This is used to express strong emotion at what someone else said.
Typically surprise, anger, criticism, etc.
This will come at the end of a sentence, and probably be loud.

This may also appear as ですって。

何だって？ – What did you say!?
失敗しただって？ – You failed!?
家事をしないだって？なんで – You’re not going to do chores!? Why?
これからどこに行くんだと？- Where did you say you were going now!?

んだって

I heard that..
Plain sentence + んだって

んだって has the same meaning as って above, except that it doesn’t imply anything about who you heard it from.
In other words, って is “They said” and んだって is “I heard”. (Source)
Also see とか

Examples

猫を食べるんだって – I heard they eat cats.
彼は首になるんだって – I heard he’s going to be fired.
その人は死んだことがあるんだって – I heard that person has died before.

っこない

Its not possible
ます Stem + っこない

っこない just means “its not possible”. This is colloquial, so is mostly only spoken.
This is similar to わけがない or はずがない
Although it doesn’t have to be used with a potential verb, it usually is.
In the cases where a potential verb is not used, it tends to be an intransitive verb.

Examples

N1は合格できっこない – There’s no way I can pass N1
彼は我慢できっこない – There’s no way he can endure.
この会社、成功しっこない – There’s no way this company can succeed.
全部食べっこない – There’s no way I can eat all of this.