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I came across this on Twitter, it seems to be mostly a question but sometimes an exclamation. Is it とは, or maybe とか? How do you use it? My dictionary has a とな as word that come at the end of a sentence to get confirmation. Is this the same?


The avatars of people using it are overwhelmingly cute. Is this a cute word.

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2 Answers 2

up vote 5 down vote accepted

As YOU wrote, とな in these examples is a combination of the particle と signifying quotation and the particle な signifies that the speaker wants reply or agreement or wants to make sure. I think that とな in this meaning is rare in the modern Japanese except as an Internet slang or possibly in some dialects.

“画像も貼らずにスレ立てとな!?” is a set phrase used in some Internet forums including 2channel. It means something similar to “You started a new thread (in the forum) without even including a single image in it? Seriously?” I guess that many of the uses of “とな!?” (or “とな?”) are inspired by this set phrase.

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とな is basically formed by combination of と and な.

You may use ～とな　at the end of the sentenses like that, basically use when you heard it from somewhere else and also express your agreement when you repeat that. It has similar meaning with ～というのだね.

You may also use ～とな at the end of the phrase (even in the middle of sentence), and it express light emphasis for your agreement.


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@Boaz, btw, will you be ok for this moderator nominations about yours?, if so, could you comment as you accept it, and may be also an upvote? –  YOU Jun 10 '11 at 8:15

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