Negation

Grammar points

Vへん／Vん

The Vへん verb ending may be the single most distinctive and recognizable piece of grammar in Kansai-ben. It is the plain non-past negative verb conjugation, analogous to Vない in standard Japanese. In...

Aない／Aことあれへん／Aん(と)ちゃう

There are three negative forms for adjectives in Kansai-ben: Aない, Aことあれへん, and Aん(と)ちゃう.

N(と)ちゃう／Nやない

In Kansai-ben, ちゃう can be used when negating nouns, originally deriving from ちがう. Nやない, which corresponds to the standard Nで(は)ない, can be used the same way, but is less common than N?(と)ちゃう.

かいな

The standard Japanese sentence ending か(な), used in questions and strong negatives, may become かい(な) in Kansai-ben. かいな is also used as in back-channel? communication (aizuchi) and imperatives.

Example conversations

大家さんと / With the Landlord

Atsushi leaves his apartment for work in the morning and meets his landlord cleaning out front.

Characters: Mori Atsushi, The Landlord

歓迎会で / At the Welcome Party

The new man at the company, Mori, is at his welcome party. He is chatting with his boss and new coworker, Kimura.

Characters: Mori Atsushi, The Boss, Kimura

街で / In the City

Junko runs into a coworker, Noriko, while on her way to a belly dance lesson...

Characters: Junko, Noriko

道を聞く / Asking Directions

Atsushi asks directions on the street for the Takashimaya department store in Namba.

Characters: Mori Atsushi, The Passerby

カラオケで / At Karaoke

Mori, and his coworkers Kimura and Sakagami, go to karaoke on the way home from work...

Characters: Mori Atsushi, Kimura, Sakagami

電車で / On a Train

Atsushi is on a train and gives up his seat to an old man...

Characters: Mori Atsushi, The Old Man

同じアパートの住人と / With a Neighbor

A neighbor complains to Atsushi.

Characters: Mori Atsushi, The Neighbor

会社で / At a Company

Mori has a presentation, but isn't feeling well. His coworker notices that he's pushing himself too hard and probably shouldn't be at work...

Characters: Mori Atsushi, Kishimoto, Sugimoto Natsuko, Oshima

会社の昼休み / During Lunch

Junko is chatting with her coworkers, Noriko and Natsuko, during lunch.

Characters: Junko, Noriko, Sugimoto Natsuko

居酒屋で / At an Izakaya

Junko and Noriko are drinking and chatting at an izakaya after work.

Characters: Junko, Noriko

お好み焼き屋で / At an Okonomiyaki Restaurant

Atsushi brings his friend to his usual okonomiyaki (a style of savory pancake) restaurant.

Characters: Mori Atsushi, The Friend, The Owner