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This appears to be an apology, but it seems a little blunt - its like ごめんね ごめんな、are logical; they apologize and soften it with those particles. But ごめんよ seems a little forceful. Why would you use it? (For the context, I encountered it in a work of fiction - said by a twelve-year-old prince, if it makes any difference.)

Angelos
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    You might consider including a little bit more context. –  May 27 '15 at 23:55
  • It sounds like a casual apology with slightly less feeling than ごめんね. `遅れて、ごめんよ` or `ごめんよ、明日用事入っちゃった`. In some cases it could also be a regional, personal or gender-specific casual apology. – The Wandering Coder May 28 '15 at 00:52
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    ごめんよ feels " Sorry ...*sigh* " to me. – user4092 May 28 '15 at 06:14

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I think there is no significant difference in meaning between ごめん, ごめんね, ごめんな, and ごめんよ. They all can be used among close friends, either seriously, casually, or even playfully, depending on the situation.

Among these, ごめんね sounds a bit mild and girly, and ごめんな sounds boyish. As for ごめんよ, I feel it's a bit less common, and has a small masculine and tough tendency. (This sentence-final particle よ is associated with both feminine and masculine speech. Women may use ごめんよ, too.)

The first person who came up to my mind as a typical user of ごめんよ was ジャイアン, if that helps. I guess he would say ごめんよ even when he sincerely expresses his apologies to his friends.

EDIT: On second thought, I remember some of my female friends actively use ごめんよ in real life, though I still feel this has a small masculine tendency.

naruto
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