The expression nen is a representative characteristic of the Japanese Osaka-dialect. Till this day most local linguistic researchers have only awarded nen a cursory mention, whereas Western researchers do not mention it at all. This paper will list some of the most important characteristics of the Osaka-dialect with special focus on nen and explain the grammatical qualities of nen. Further, it will compare these qualities with the ones of no da of Standard Japanese, with which nen is often equated. The conclusions that can be drawn from these comparisons are that the two expressions are very similar, but still interpretation of nen diverges on several important points such as conjugation, meaning and frequency. Finally, this paper will summarise, discuss the future of nen and suggest ways with which research on the expression could be carried forward
