BriefJapanese – solving the mystery of とく、ったる、っす, with the list of common Japanese contracted forms and kansai-ben.

When Japanese learners start reading or watching shows, they start to encouter numerous **SLANG** expressions like とこ、こりゃ、とる、てんの that do not appear in their dictionary or in textbooks and the reading or watching becomes quite discouraing.

So I thought that it would be really useful if there were a list of those expressions, that are contracted forms used so often in casual language. And this is the purpose of this text.

**What are contracted forms?**

Contractions, or short form are used in everyday speech and informal writing to make communication easier and faster. Those forms are usually not appropriate in formal writing.

Examples in English I am → I’m, I will → I’ll, don’t know → dunno

Just like in English, such forms are also used in Japanese. While they are often called contracted forms, many are even not that short and are simply regional variants.

**But before all of that**, there is something troubling lots of problems and rarely explained:

遅くなっても

ほしくなった

Many people have a problem with those and similar phrases, thinking it is some unknown conjugation of いadjective. However, those are all conjugations of いajdective + なる.

ほしい(want/wish for/etc)・遅い(slow/late) + なる(become/get/etc) ・ほしい・遅い becomes ほしく・遅く(adverbial form) and then なる(the verb) is added. ほしくなる・遅くなるAfter that なる becomes the past form, ending as なった。In case of 遅い it takes ても (even if).ほしくなった・遅くなっても

​

​

|Pattern|Example|Contracted Example|
|:-|:-|:-|
|ている→てる・でいる→でる [ている uses](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/vqejpk/brief_japanese_what_you_should_know_about_%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B_and/)|毎日（まいにち）お茶（ちゃ）を飲（の）んでいる|毎日お茶を飲ん**でる** I drink tea every day.|
|ていて→てて|続（つづ）け**ていて**ください|続け**てて**ください。Please, continue.|
|ていた→てた|レストランは以前（いぜん）は空（す）い**ていた**。|レストランは以前は空い**てた**。The restaurant was empty (for some time).|
|ています→てます・でいます→でます|ロードランナーとコヨーテ知っ***ています***？|ロードランナーとコヨーテ知っ***てます***？Do you know the road runner and the coyote?|
|ている/ておる→とる・でいる/でおる→どる|お前（まえ）はもう死（し）ん**でる**。|お前はもう死ん**どる**。You are already day.|
|ていく→てく (and go…, some change continues)|家（いえ）に連（つ）れ***ていく****よ*|家に連れ***てく****よ. I will take you home.*|
|る＋の→んの (asking for or providing explanation)|何（なん）やって**るの**？|何やって**んの**？ What are you doing?|
|る＋な→んな|足（あし）が腫（はる）れてい**るなら**医者（いしゃ）に行くべきだ|足が腫れて**んなら**医者へいけよ If your leg is swollen, go see a doctor.|
|ら + な → んな|わからない・知らない|わかんない・しらんない – do not know|
|ておく・でおく→どく(to do something in advance)|薬（くすり）を飲（の）む前（まえ）に何（なん）か*食（た）べ****ておく***べき。|薬を飲む前に何か*食べ****とく***べき。You should eat something before taking medicine.|
|ては→ちゃ・では→じゃ|食べ**ては**いけない。|食べ**ちゃ**いけない。You must not eat.|
|では→じゃ|UFO**では**ない。|UFO**じゃ**ない。This is not ufo.|
|れは・れば→りゃ|こ**れは**・気分（きぶん）がよけ**れば**踊（おど）るよ|こ**りゃ**・気分がよけ***りゃ****踊る*わ This is… ・If she is in good mood, she will dance.|
|なくては→なくちゃ|食（た）べ物（もの）を見（み）つけ***なくては****いけない。*|食べ物を見つけ***なくちゃ***\*。I must find something to eat.\*|
|なければ→なきゃ・なければ→けりゃ|何か*食べ****なければ****いけない*|何か*食べ****なきゃい****けない。I must eat something.*|
|てしまう→ちゃう・でしまう→じゃう (to do something by accident, to finish something)|ずいぶん太（ふ）っ***てしまった***。|ずいぶん太っ**ちゃった**。I got (unfortunatelly) fat.|
|てあげる→たげる・であげる→だげる(to do something for someone else, uncommon)|もっと送（おく）っ***てあげる***。|もっと送っ**たげる**。I WILL send you more.|
|てやる・てあげる→たる (to do something for someone else, common)|もっと送っ**てやる**。|もっと送っ**たる**。I WILL send you more.|
|ところ→とこ [Briefly explained here](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/vl2giu/brief_japanese_differences_between_%E3%81%AE_and_%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8_and/)|たった今（いま）帰（かえ）った***ところ****だ。*|たった今帰った***とこ****だ。I just returned home.*|
|の→ん|そう思（おも）った***の****だ。*|そう思った***ん****だ。I thought so.*|
|*もの→もん (exactly the same sound change as above)*|怒（おこ）らないで、子供（こども）なのだ**もの**。|怒らないで、子供なんだ**もん**。Don’t get angry, it’s just a kid.|
|ない→ん|知（し）ら**ない**。|知ら**ん**。I don’t know. (Dunno)|
|です→っす(to be, Nagatoro anyone?)|美術部（びじゅつぶ）**です**か？|美術部**っす**か？Is this an art club?|
|でしょう→でしょ・っしょ(right? expresses supposition)|ロマンティック**で*****しょう***？|ロマンティック***っしょ***？(Isn’t he incredibly romantic?)|
|ます→っす|食べ**ま**す|食べる**っす**。to eat|
|Adjective\[oi\]→Adjective\[ee\]|す**ごい**|す**げぇ** amazing|
|Adjective \[a i\]→Adjective\[ee\]|た**かい**|た**けぇ** expensive|
|Adjectiveい→remove い|痛（いた）**い**！|いた！ir huts! (ouch!)|
|は→って　(topic marker, as for)|先輩（せんぱい）**は**すごい。|先輩**って**すごい。Senpai is amazing.|
|と→って (quotation particle)|ワニがたくさんいる**と***聞（き）いた*んだ|ワニがたくさんいる***って****聞いた*んだ I heard that there are many crocodiles here.|
|ても→たって (even if)|ゲームを買（か）っ**ても**、忙（いそが）しくてやれない。|ゲームを買っ**たって**、忙しくてやれない。Even if I buy games, I am so busy I can’t play.|

**So we can see that there are three major groups of contractions:**

Notice that the simplest contractions are the ones where one sylable is removed, they are called 抜き in Japanese. For example: い抜き → ている→てる。

You might have also heard this in context of ら抜き, that is potential form of るverbs (ichidan verbs) with ら removed → 見られる→見れる

Another type of contraction are voice changes, for exmaple:

nasal voice change:

何やって**るの**？→何やってんの？

And the last type are local variants:

だ→や (kansai-ben)

あなたのゲームーだ→あなたのゲームや。

​

**Some common slang expressions:**

​

|こんにちはです|ちーっす　hello/hey|
|:-|:-|
|**あ**りがとうご**ざ**い**ます**|あざっす thanks!|
|すみません|さーせん・すまん・すいません sorry|
|やはり|やっぱり・やっぱ as expected|
|決して（けして）|決して（けっして）never|
|であります|でありんすto be|

​

​

**Kansai-ben**

​

|だ→や|あなたのゲーム*だ*。|あなたのゲーム*や*。It is your game.|
|:-|:-|:-|
|ね（right？）→な|また明日（あした）*ね*|また明日*な* Untill tomorrow!|
|よ(emphasizes new information)→わ|私（わたし）*だよ*|私*やわ* It is me!|
|だね・でしょう→やん (right?)|高（たか）い*でしょう*。|高い*やん* It is expensive, right?|
|のだ→ねん (asking or providing explanation)|アメリカに行（い）く*んだ*。|アメリカに行く*ねん*。 I am going to US.|
|たのだ→てん (asking or providing explanation)|テレビを見（み）*たんだ*。|テレビを見*てん*。I watched TV.|
|させる(causative, make someone to something)→さす|見*させる*|見*さす* To make someone see/to let someone see|
|てしまった→てもうた・でしまった→でもうた|ケーキーを食べてしまった|ケーキーを食べ*てもうた*。I (unfortunately) ate cake.|

​

​

I hope it helps!

I am mrnoone, and this was Brief Japanese.

If you are curious about more posts like this, you can follow me on reddit :>

[All my articles are archivized on my blog.](https://briefjapanese.fun/)