Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [feminine-speech]

女言葉. Words, phrases, or techniques that may be used predominantly by girls and women, or carry connotations of femininity.

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Is ending question sentences with の really feminine?

In What differences should I look out for between male vs female speech?, a lot of answers explicitly mention that ending question sentences with の is feminine. However, this makes very little sense to me, as my understanding is that の is pretty…
Darius Jahandarie
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does 「なう」have effeminate connotations?

I often get text messages from people who use the twitter-derived slang 「なう」 to mean "now." As in 「電車なう」meaning "(I am on the) train now." However, these mainly come from women, and one gay dude. Is that just a coincidence, or does using this term…
Mason
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What is the implication when a gruff old man ends a sentence with わ?

In this question, it seems to me it was clearly established that わ, at the end of a sentence, is decidedly feminine. There was talk of a Kansai-ben わ with slightly different implications, but still within a range of femininity. So, I'm reading…
Questioner
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Is the scream "gya" masculine and "kya" feminine?

I don't speak Japanese, but I notice in some manga (like Mr. Fullswing for example), male characters tend to scream "gya" or "guwa" while female characters tend to scream "kya". Is it true that "gya" sounds masculine and "kya" sounds feminine? If it…
Vun-Hugh Vaw
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Is キモい a feminine expression?

I understand that キモい comes from 気持ち悪い and I have only heard it used by women. I am wondering if it is exclusively used by women like how ending sentences with わ or かしら is only used by women.
russjohnson09
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Is it true that only girls use うち to refer to themselves?

Is it true that only girls will use うち to refer to themselves? So when a guy say うち he is referring to his in-group / company / family, and not referring to himself, right?
Pacerier
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Is ending a statement with の really feminine?

I saw this very interesting and useful Q&A: Is ending question sentences with の really feminine? a while back, and it seemed to align with my own understanding of the 終助詞の. But I have heard this usage from male speakers, both (very occasionally) in…
Eddie Kal
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Feminine speech: no だ before よ

Is it true that until recently women were expected to drop だ, ending a sentence with よ? For example: 今日、何曜日？ 土曜日よ。 If it is true, was it thought to sound "gentler"? Why has this changed?
Enguroo
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Can girls say いいな?

な is generally masculine speech, but in this case you can't replace it with ね for neutral speech of the same meaning. いいね is just 'it's nice', while いいな implies envy or hope. If they can't say いいな, what would they say instead?
Angelos
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Is わくわく waku waku a feminine expression?

I tried using this expression but a friend of mine who lives in Japan said it is feminine. I tried searching about this online but couldn't find any indication that it is. Is it really feminine? if it is, how do guys express excitement/elation?
Mel
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Gendered usage of 素敵

素敵 is often described as a feminine word. Just how feminine is it? What would be the impression of a male speaker using it, if he didn't already use feminine speech?
Angelos
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「ね」 vs 「な」 in 「そうだね」 /「そうね」/ 「そうですね」

Another thread stated that when expressing agreement, we can choose between 「ね」 and 「な」. 「ね」 is more feminine and 「な」 is more masculine. By that, would 「そうな」 be the masculine form of 「そうね」 ? Also, since 「そうだね」 and 「そうですね」 both use 「ね」, are they…
Pacerier
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Is あたし seen as soft?

Is あたし seen as soft and girly like the particle わ is? Or can a girl just say it and not sound emotional or dramatic or soft?
Tirous
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As sentence-ending feminine particles, what is the difference between の and わ?

So according to Denshi Jisho, it says the following on these two particles: の: Indicates emotional emphasis. わ: Indicates emotion or admiration. Those definitions sound similar. But there must be a difference between the two. Otherwise, there…
Micheal Gignac
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Omitting "da" in casual speech

How acceptable is it to omit "da" in casual speech in phrases such as -- chokoreto ga suki (da) yo -- boku wa daigakusei (da) And so on..... Do it also depend if it's a male or female talking?
Kommi
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