といっ + たらないCannot tell, describe, say or express how, Words cannot express, Too … for words, Extremely

Structure

More common patterns:
Noun + といったらない⁽¹⁾
［い］Adjective［さ］⁽²⁾ + といったらない⁽¹⁾

Less common patterns:
Verb + といったらない⁽¹⁾
［な］Adjective + といったらない⁽¹⁾

⁽¹⁾ったらない
⁽²⁾［い］Adjective

Details

About ったらない・といったらない

といったらない is a casual expression used when something is at a level such that not even (A) is sufficient to describe it. It is usually translated as 'there are no words to express (A)', or 'too (A) for words'. This structure is a combination of the case-marking particle と, the conjunction particle たら 'when', or 'if', and the い-Adjective ない. It may be used in either positive or negative contexts.

といったらない, or the shortened form ったらない may appear after adjectives or nouns in their standard forms.

The ない in this grammar pattern is commonly thought to be an abbreviation of ありはしない, or ありゃしない, the conjunctive form of the う-Verb ある combined with the case marking particle は, and the negated form of する, しない. In this way, a more literal meaning can be thought of as 'if one were to say (A), it's not possible'.

Caution

As this expression highlights an extreme amount, い-Adjectives will often be used with the さ suffix added, specifically to indicate amount.

あの人(ひと)の優(やさ)しさと言(い)ったらありゃしない。

I can't describe how nice he is.

Examples

--:--

「校長(こうちょう)と鹿(しか)との戦(たたか)いを見(み)たときの驚(おどろ)きといったらないよ。」

'I can't describe my surprise at seeing a fight between the principal and a deer.'

「車(くるま)のタイヤが盗(ぬす)まれた。本当(ほんとう)に腹(はら)が立(た)つったらない。」

'My car tires have been stolen. I can't tell you how angry I am!'

A：「歯(は)を引(ひ)っこ抜(ぬ)くのはどうだった？」
B：「あの痛(いた)みといったらないわよ、本気(ほんき)で死(し)ぬかと思(おも)ったもの。」

A: 'How was the tooth extraction?'
B: 'I can't tell you how painful it is! I really thought I was going to die.'

数(すう)年(ねん)が経(た)ったのにまだあの日(ひ)の日没(にちぼつ)を覚(おぼ)えている。その景色(けしき)の美(うつく)しさと言(い)ったらなかった。

Even though years have passed, I can still remember the sunset that day. I couldn't describe the beauty of the scene in words.

メークした時(とき)の星野(ほしの)の変(か)わり様(よう)と言(い)ったらなかった。まるで別人(べつじん)のようだった。

I couldn't describe how much Hoshino has changed when she put on the makeup. She was like a different person.

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ったらない・といったらない – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (2 in total)

Jake
cannot tell/describe/say/express how
words cannot express
too … for words
extremely
Structure
More common:
- Noun + ったらない/といったらない
- いAdj/(いAdj + さ) + ったらない/といったらない
Less common:
- Verb + ったらない/といったらない
- なAdj + ったらない/といったらない
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Elliotjoyner3
Doesn’t the explanation that “This structure is a combination of the case-marking particle と, the conjunction particle たら ‘when’, or ‘if’, and the い-Adjective ない.” miss the fact that いったら is a conjugation of いう (言う)?
nminer
Just checking my understanding of this grammar point. . . Are ったらない/といったらない always interchangeable with といったらありはしない/といったらありゃしない?

I feel like I often see といったらありゃしない used in the Vocab deck, and wondering if there are any nuance differences between the two.

If they are completely interchangeable, would it be possible to add a note saying that in the grammar explanation and adding it as a possible answer for Review questions? Currently, it seems to only accept ったらない/といったらない, which made me wonder if sometimes they can’t be used interchangeably. There also doesn’t appear to be a separate grammar point for といったらありはしない/といったらありゃしない that I could find.

@Fuga for visibility. Thanks!