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So I know that to use ちゃう we use the て form a verb and delete the て and add ちゃう, however; how would this work for example with 話す as in

話す->話さない->話さなかった

If to say "I'm not speaking" is 話さなくている then to use ちゃう in here, do I say 話さなくちゃた to say "I didn't speak"?

Bondalton
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3 Answers3

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ちゃう can be used in several completely different ways. Since you mentioned negation, I am certain you are entering the wild and wonderful world of the Osakan dialect.

As standard Japanese:

[Verb] + "ちゃう" means: (a contraction of て しまう)

  1. "go ahead and..." (wasn't sure if you had permission to do so.) (see a delicious-looking cake and) 食べちゃう! (I'm gonna eat it, though I'm not if it's for me or I'm even allowed.) This usage often conjugates as: 食べちゃおう!(with a nuance that I am hereby deciding to go ahead and...) WHen you have slight doubt; 食べちゃおうかな・・・?(maybe I'm gonna eat it...maybe not....dunno.)

  2. "I screwed up and... A well-regarded marathon athelete, Seko, once said こけちゃいました! in an interview. He tripped and fell, but picked himself up and kept going. こける means to trip while running. こけちゃう、 a contraction of こけてしまう、 means I tripped!

But ちゃう can be seen very often as an Osaka (Kansai) dialect of 違う(incorrect).

ちゃうでそれ。 no, that ain't right.

Osakan A: 10たす12は23やろ?

Osakan B: ちゃう、22や。

A funny tongue twister with that would be:

Person A: "Hey, I see a little dog over there - is that a Chow chow?"

Person B: "That's not a chow chow. See?"

the second line goes:

ちゃうちゃうちゃうんちゃう?

【その犬が】チャウチャウ【であるという事は】違う(ちゃう, dialect)のでは(ん、dialect)ないですか(ちゃう?)


Now with that explained,

If to say "I'm not speaking" is 話さなくている then to use ちゃう in here, do I say 話さなくちゃた to say "I didn't speak"?

This, I'm sorry, sounds and is incorrect. If I hear someone say 話さなくちゃた, the first thing I'd think is this person isn't a native speaker. The giveaway is that the Osakan dialect ちゃう never conjugates. It never becomes ちゃた。 or ちゃった。And therefore, I'm forced to interpret it as the standard Japanese ちゃった。So the second thing I'd think is, probably it's meant to be:

話さなくなっちゃった, a contraction of 話さなくなってしまった。

(The person was takative, but all the sudden became quiet, and you wonder why s/he isn't talking anymore. You wonder if you've said something wrong.)

In sum, if you were trying to use ちゃう as a negative, you have to do a deep dive in Osaka dialect, which is no small feat if you are learning Japanese.

はなしとんちゃうでー! which is missing a piece, in this usage it needs a topic it is about 国籍の話しとんちゃうで nooo I wasn't talkinga bout nationality! スープの話しとんちゃうで nooo I wans't talking about the soup!

If this is too confusing, don't use ちゃう to mean negative. You can do without it - in fact you want to refrain from using it to mean negative outside of Osaka/Kansai region. It would go as well as doing a thick new york accent in soutern California. If you do want to master it, live in Osaka for a couple of weeks and that'll do!

Jun Sato
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話さなくている is already ungrammatical without (て)しまう/ちゃう. The correct form is 話していない ("is not talking/telling" or "has not told") or 話さないでいる ("to keep it untold"). There are two ways of combining (て)いる and ない. See: ~ないでいる verb ending and 〜ていない vs 〜ないでいる. Also note that (て)いる has two different meanings (progressive and perfect).

To conjugate 話す, see the table below. When you "stack" conjugations, there is a certain order you have to remember. I didn't know whether you wanted to say 話していない or 話さないでいる, so the following table contains the conjugations of both.

plain -te-simau -chau
nonnegative 話す 話してしまう 話しちゃう
negative 話さない 話してしまわない 話しちゃわない
past 話した 話してしまった 話しちゃった
past-negative 話さなかった 話してしまわなかった 話しちゃわなかった
with ている 話している1 話してしまっている2 話しちゃっている2
with ていない 話していない3 話してしまっていない4 話しちゃっていない4
with ないでいる 話さないでいる5 話してしまわないでいる6 話しちゃわないでいる6

1 can mean either "is talking/telling" or "has told"
2 "has told it (already, regrettably)" or sometimes "is telling it (although that's undesirable)"
3 can mean either "is not talking" or "has not told"
4 "has not told it (yet, because telling it is undesirable)"
5 "is keeping it untold"
6 "is keeping it untold (because telling it is undesirable)"

EDIT: In case you wanted to say something like "Unfortunately I haven't told it (to someone) yet" (i.e., the "untold" state itself is undesirable), it's difficult to express this using (て)しまう/ちゃう. You have to say (残念ながら)(まだ)話せていません or something.

naruto
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  • @aguijonazo 「ている」の部分を見逃していました。が質問者が「話していない」に「ちゃう」を加えたいのか、「話さないでいる」に「ちゃう」を加えたいのか、良く分からないので両方加えました。もしかしたら「話していない」という状況そのものをregrettableにしたいということかもしれず、それは仰る通り「ちゃう」では表現しづらいと思います。「ている」には「進行」「結果」の大きく2種類の意味があり「話しちゃっていない」は全く正しい文なので、その辺を考慮し始めると大変…。ミスのご指摘もありがとうございます。 – naruto May 10 '21 at 04:19
  • @aguijonazo 「ない」と「ちゃう」を両方使いたいのだとは思いますが、「ちゃう」が「ない」の後に来ないといけないという話ではないように思います。多分ですけど。「ている」は確かに質問の前半では関係なさそうですが後半ではっきり使われちゃっているので、念のため。 – naruto May 10 '21 at 05:53
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ちゃう is a contracted form of てしまう. You use てしまう (ちゃう) when you regret something you have done or something has been completed. It doesn’t go well with a non-action like 話さない.

Having said that, it can be used for a change that has resulted in that state. The change that results in the state of “not speaking” can be expressed as 話さなくなる. If you regret that change or want to express its completeness, you can say 話さなくなってしまう or 話さなくなっちゃう.

However, this sounds like you are referring to someone other than yourself. It’s more natural to say [黙]{だま}っちゃう if you are talking about yourself.

By the way, 話さなくている sounds unnatural. It should be 話さないでいる.

aguijonazo
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