All About the Japanese Word Sate

Light NOW
Mina De La O / Getty Images

The Japanese word, sate, or in Japanese characters, "さて" means "now," "so," "well" and "well then" depending on the context. Sate can be used as a conjunction or interjection.

Example Sentence

An example of sate in a sentence would be Sate, doushiyou. In Japanese letters, or kanji, the phrase would be written as:

  • さてどうしよう。

This sentence translates as:

  • What shall I do now?

Other Uses

The website Self Taught Japanese says there are also some alternative uses for sate. "The phrase “さて” (sate) and equivalent “さてっと” (satetto) have a similar meaning to “さあ” (here we go). While they can be used to get the attention of another person さて、やってみよっか (Well, let's try it), I more often hear this pair used when talking to oneself." 

Format
mla apa chicago
Your Citation
Abe, Namiko. "All About the Japanese Word Sate." ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/sate-meaning-and-characters-2028748. Abe, Namiko. (2020, August 28). All About the Japanese Word Sate. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/sate-meaning-and-characters-2028748 Abe, Namiko. "All About the Japanese Word Sate." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/sate-meaning-and-characters-2028748 (accessed April 19, 2024).