68661
1. **さあ** 、お茶をどうぞ。
  2. **それじゃ** 、おやすみなさい。

As far as I understand, both さあ and それじゃ mean quite similar things: well,
then; alright; well now.

In sentence 1 above, would it be correct to use それじゃ instead of さあ (alright,
here is your tea)? And would さあ be OK in sentence 2 (OK, let's sleep/OK,
goodnight)?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-04T07:02:47.250
68659
2019-06-04T09:43:10.003
2019-06-04T07:06:08.190
5010
31549
question
interjections
The use of さあ and それじゃ
Saying さあ means you are expecting the listener to do or start something in
response, like "hey" or "come on". So "さあ、おやすみなさい" would sound like you're
urging someone, like "Hey, time to go to bed!" If you just want to add the
nuance of "okay" or "now", それじゃ/じゃあ/それでは/では is the correct choice.

それじゃ/じゃあ/それでは/では is used to indicate it's time to go (back) to an
important/original topic after desultory chatting, silence, greeting, etc. For
example, saying "それじゃ、お茶をどうぞ" is fine when:

  1. you've been chatting with your guest for a while with a teapot in your hand
  2. the tea itself is the main purpose of the gathering

But if you said it in an inappropriate situation, it would sound puzzling, and
your guest might wonder if the tea has some special meaning. (それじゃ/etc also
means "in which case", but that's not relevant now.)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-04T07:35:41.067
68661
2019-06-04T09:43:10.003
2019-06-04T09:43:10.003
5010
5010
68659
answer