Dattebayo (だってばよ): what Naruto's catchphrase means
だってばよ
だってばよ · dattebayo
Naruto Uzumaki adds dattebayo to the ends of his sentences. It gives them an insistent, childish emphasis, roughly "I’m telling you!", without a clear meaning of its own.
Word by word
| だ | だ | casual "is" |
| ってば | ってば | insistent "I said!", "come on!" |
| よ | よ | sentence-ending emphasis |
What the ending adds
People do use ってば in Japanese when they’re impatient or feel ignored. For example, もういいってば！ means "I said that’s enough!" Naruto adds it to nearly everything, so it becomes a character habit rather than carrying a meaning of its own.
The dub’s "Believe it!" suits Naruto’s personality and mouth movements better than it reflects the literal words.
Using it yourself
Say it in conversation and you’ll sound like you’re doing a Naruto impression; the phrase is that closely tied to him.
More examples
- 俺は火影になるんだってばよ！ ore wa hokage ni naru n dattebayo! — I'm gonna be Hokage, I'm telling you!
Hear it in real scenes
In Animei you watch anime with Japanese subtitles, tap any word for its reading and meaning, and keep it as a flashcard with the clip it came from.
Try Animei freeRuns in the browser on phone or desktop. No account needed to start.