Sentence ending particles with ね, な, よ, ぜ, ぞ, わ, さ
Some particles can go at the end of sentences and are used to show how the speaker feels or provide additional emotional impact. The descriptions given in this lesson are not literal. They're just a way to represent the underlying tone. This is an incredibly nuanced topic and it can only be acquired through a lot of exposure.
Providing translations for the example sentences in this section is going to be very hard, because English does not use this type of language and it is often lost in (natural) translation, so be aware of that.
The sentence ending particle ね feels as though the speaker wants the listener to agree. ね can also come at the beginning of a sentence, and it serves as a way to get attention from the listener. In this usage, especially when duplicated (ね、ね！) it can come across as feminine/cute.
いい天気だね It's good weather (don’t you agree?) ねーねー、おにーちゃん。 Hey, hey, big brother
な(ぁ) indicates self-directed emphasis. You often use it when you feel emotionally moved or relieved by something (often positive, but can be used negatively too). Note that there's a different sentence-ender that can conflict with this one, and in such places, this one is usually written with the vowel elongated. In spoken language the tone is different.
いいなぁ Ahh, that’s nice
よ feels as though the speaker wants to notify the listener about some piece of information. The listener may already know about it, but the speaker emphasizes that this information might be new or interpreted in a new way and wants the listener to be aware of that.
覚えていてくれて嬉しいよ You remembered that, and that makes me happy.
To show a simple difference in usage between よ and ね:
これ、美味しいね これ、美味しいよ This tastes good
Both of these sentences mean the same thing at the core, but ね can only be used if both speaker and listener have tasted the food, while よ is used when the speaker wants the listener (who hasn’t tasted the food) to know that they think food is good.
ぞ indicates assertion, it can sound a bit coarse, but it's not necessarily impolite. It can feel slightly masculine, but in certain expressions and contexts women use it too.
誰もいないぞ Dude, there’s no one here 行くぞ！ Here I go! (speaking about himself, to himself)
ぜ is like ぞ but feels more lighthearted. In fact, it can turn otherwise assertive statements into suggestions. It’s not used often in real life and can sound comical if used incorrectly.
さっさと行こうぜ Let’s hurry up (and go)
The ending particle わ has three main uses:
- Feminine emphasis similar to よ, this is almost exclusively found in fictional media and is often used to represent some stereotypical お嬢様 characters, especially in the form of ですわ
- Neutral casual usage, this is pretty much standard across all Japan and mostly gender neutral. It has the nuance of a self-reflected よ. You use it emphatically when you are stating to yourself some subjective feeling you just now came to realize.
- Kansai dialect わ. Not much needs to be said since we’re not studying dialects in this guide, but you might come across it if you consume content with kansai speech which is very common.
People often confuse the feminine わ with the neutral わ, but they are very different. In real life it is extremely common for guys to use わ so don’t be fooled by it.
そんなことはどうでもいいですわ I don’t care about that (feminine) そと出た瞬間、終わったわ As soon as I went out, it was already over (for me) 強風オールバック/白上フブキ(cover)
There are many more particles like these and covering all of them is an unrealistic expectation. You will come across them as you consume Japanese media, just don’t be surprised when you do. Remember that for the most part they don’t change the meaning of sentences, they just add vibes.
A lot of these particles can also be chained together (よ + ね -> よね) and there is an implicit order of precedence (ねよ is wrong, よね is correct). We won’t be covering them but just be aware that they assume a meaning that means more than just the sum of its parts. All vibes, of course.
One last note to mention is the role of だ after nouns and な-adjectives at the end of sentences before attaching particles. The “proper” way in Japanese is to use だ (or です) if the sentence ends with a noun or な-adjective, and then add the particle right after:
元気だよ すてきだね
However, it is grammatically acceptable to remove this だ and attach the particle directly to the noun. This can often feel feminine and the usage in real life is much more limited than in fictional media.
あなたはいい人ね。 それはこっちのセリフよ。