さすが (Sasuga) Senpai! Making Compliments in Japanese

Ever wonder how to compliment your boss or coworkers in Japanese without sounding like a creep? Or maybe you want to just express your lack of surprise at a particular moment. Perhaps you wish to simply state that something went exactly as you thought it would. All of these feelings can be easily expressed with a single expression in Japanese: さすが.

So, as you may have expected, it's time to get down and dirty with さすが. Here we go!

What does さすが (sasuga) mean?

Occasionally written in kanji as 流石, if you look up さすが on Jisho, you'll see a very concise and tidy definition:

And, in a very general sense, this is correct: when you use さすが, you are indicating that you had a pre-conceived expectation, and those expectations were somehow met or contradicted. We admit that this is a somewhat wishy-washy definition: There isn't really a reliable way to translate it into English. The word is very nuanced.

Case in point, if you look it up in a Japanese dictionary, you'll see a much lengthier definition:

So, today, we're going to walk through several examples of how you'll see さすが used in Japanese sentences:

Using さすが as a compliment

As per Goo's dictionary, the first and most common usage of さすが is as a compliment:

さすが, for when the situation speaks for itself

This phrase can be just blurted out if you see something impressive done in front of you by a friend or colleague. Pretend your friend Kazu just landed a backflip off a wall onto the ground right in front of you on his first attempt. You wish to compliment his obvious abilities so you could just shout:

Using さすが implies some sort of reputation––there is an expectation that the person in question can or should be able to perform the action in question. You knew Kazu could perform backflips and the fact that he landed a dangerous one warranted some sort of praise. Just note that, when used in this way, it can seem a little kiss-up-y. Close friends may not use it so much with each other in such a positive way since the intent is to genuinely lift someone up or make them feel good about their accomplishment. It is commonly heard, however, towards bosses, senpai, co-workers, or towards little children.

It can also be used with だ／です, in which case the meaning is similar.

さすが（は）X だ, to compliment a specific person or thing

さすが can also be used in a more sentence-like construction rather than as a stand-alone exclamation. The nuance is the same as the previous usage: complimenting someone or something when they do something that meets everyone's expectation or when they live up to their reputation.

The difference is that, this time, you explicitly state the thing or person being complimented.

Note that the ending word (です／だ／nothing) will depend on the formality of the situation. Also, X in the above model must be a noun––the thing being complimented. And finally, the は after さすが can be (and often is) omitted.

Using さすが to indicate expectations and contradictions of expectations

さすが is also commonly used to state that things have gone exactly as expected or predicted. In this case, you'll see it translated as something like "naturally" or "of course".

In some cases, however, it can be used ironically to emphasize that something has not met expectations. Goo 辞書 defines this meaning of さすが as follows:

さすがに, when expectations are confirmed

The most common usage of さすがに is to emphasize the fact that something went as expected or that something naturally should occur/exist in a certain way. Structure-wise, you can include it almost anywhere in a statement (so long as it's before the final verb) because it functions as an adverb (tacking に onto the phrase makes it function as an adverb).

In the most basic sense, you'll use it like this:

Here are a few examples that highlight this affirmative aspect of さすがに:

Note that context has been provided to show why the speaker thinks the outcome is "naturally" the case.

さすがに, when expectations are contradicted

Although not as common as the affirmative usage of さすがに, it can also be used to emphasize a contradiction to one's expectations or prediction. In English, the word "even" is often used to communicate this nuance. Used in the same way as its affirmative case, here are some examples of さすが used to show contradiction:

さすが X だけあって／に, a more advanced way to communicate that something is as expected

There are some advanced usages of さすが that utilize either the だけある or だけに markers.

だけある can be used by itself to create a simple statement:

But だけに is only used when joining two clauses together:

Lastly, だけある can also join two clauses together, but must first put into the て-form (だけあって):

In these constructions, は can be (and often is) omitted. Also, X can be any of the following:  noun, noun + だった,  i-adjective, i-adjective (past-tense), na-adjective + な, na-adjective + だった, verb (plain non-past tense), verb (plain-past tense), or subordinate clause. These constructions typically become something like, "As expected of X, …"

Here are a few examples:

さすがの X も, a weirder one that praises people by putting them down... kind of

There is a special construction involving さすが that takes on an "even this person" meaning. Normally used with exceptional people, the overall feeling is kinda negative and usually used to indicate a contradiction to everyone's expectations of the person in question (all the while still lifting them up). The basic form is as follows:

And here are a few examples to drive the point home:

さすが in sarcastic expressions

さすが can be used sarcastically to emphasize some aspect of the thing being commented on. This is usually said to oneself or towards one's close friends but it can be seen as crude and distasteful. As a result, this sarcastic usage of さすが is not commonly heard.

やはり (yahari), a Japanese word some learners confuse with さすが

さすが has some overlap in meaning and usage with the phrase やはり

(or やっぱり in casual speech).

やはり normally translates to "as I thought," "as expected," or "in the end" in English... similar to さすが. Indeed, when it means "as I thought" or "as expected," it overlaps with さすが and the two can be interchanged, although the nuance is different.

In fact, やはり can have a sort of negative, almost disappointed feeling to it, depending on the context. In the sentences below, the meaning is essentially the same, but there is a slight difference in nuance.

Note the positive tone of the sentence that uses さすが. It's almost like one person said "wow, this is good!" and the other person says "Yep! It's Japanese, after all!" Conversely, in the sentence with やはり, the speaker is simply confirming that their prediction of the product's origin was correct—Japanese, for better or worse.

Moving on.

The other use of やはり is to communicate something like "in the end." In this case, さすが can be used, too, but the nuance is quite different:

The first sentence merely states that someone named Levi quit while the second sentence implies that others anticipated his quitting beforehand––that it was something inevitable.

How to disambiguate the various meanings of さすが

We're not going to lie: さすが is hard to get right. Its breadth of nuances include some things that seem pretty contradictory.

The thing is, this isn't necessarily something you need to work out logically right now. As you spend more time interacting with Japanese, you'll see さすが used in context, and that context will enable you to gradually work out what's going on.

For example, say you're watching this video about a girl who drove 800 kilometers (~497 miles) to eat tuna for... reasons.

Well, at about 2:45, you're going to hear her say something: It's OK. I can go (continue on/make it).

Now, she's obviously an adult and has a license, so why would she feel the need to go out of her way to confirm that she's good to keep on driving?

Bam! There's さすが. It's tough without sleep—dangerous, even.

She's acknowledging the fact that it's dangerous to drive without having enough sleep, but at the same time as she accepts that fact, she's saying but I'm going to keep on driving, anyway.

This happens to be a beautiful example sentence, so you can just whack that orange button in the top-right corner to make a flashcard which includes a screenshot and audio from the show:

And, just like that, you're a step closer to making sense of さすが.

As you continue to explore your interests, you'll stumble into more situations where さすが is used, and, with time, you'll gradually pick up on the things that these scenes have in common, what kind of sentences that さすが gets inserted into, and what sort of statements follow or precede it.

Eventually, you'll feel what it means, even if you can't quite put it into words.

Migaku's writers are pros, but さすが even they don't know how to end this article

And there you go: one well-written article about Japanese's best compliment! (さすが Migaku writers!) But seriously, hopefully you've learned about the powerful nuances built into this widely-used phrase. Use it wisely to compliment your colleagues, bosses, and senpai!

And always remember:

Great job reading this far! (さすが you!)

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P.S. — remember how we said that さすが is sometimes written out as 流石? The kanji literally mean "a current/flowing" and "stone", which is completely out of left field, right? It's a whole story.