Japanese for Beginners. Sachiko Toyozato

particles, wa, yo and ze, are placed at the end of the sentence and are used to emphasize the speaker’s emotions (surprise, admiration, etc.) or thoughts. Here is the difference among these three:

      1. Wa is used only by women and often used with the particle yo or ne at the end of the sentence.

Kawaii wa!	It’s cute!
Ara, sore osake da wa!	Wow, that’s sake!
Ano ko shitteru wa yo.	I know that boy.
Kore ōkii wa ne?	This is big, isn’t it?

      2. Yo is frequently and widely used in men’s and women’s speech and added at the end of many kinds of sentence patterns.

Kono omocha sugoi yo.	This toy is really super.
Abunai wa yo.	It’s really dangerous.
Nigeru na yo.Ⓜ	Don’t run away, please.

      3. Ze is similar to that of the particle yo or zo. However, it sounds rougher and is consequently less used than they are. It is only used by men.

Kore yasui ze.Ⓜ	This is really cheap.
Sono ko suteki da ze.Ⓜ	That girl is nice, you know.
Issho ni ikō ze!Ⓜ	Let’s go together!

      Practice

      Try making up some sentences and adding wa, yo, or ze to the ends. It’s a good way to add more feeling to what you are saying.

      _______________________________ wa.

      _______________________________ wa.

      _______________________________ yo.

      _______________________________ yo.

      _______________________________ ze.

      _______________________________ ze.

      Who Uses Which? A Summary

      The mark indicates that the particle is commonly used by that gender. The × mark shows that the particle is rarely used by that gender. And the ( ) mark indicates it’s used by young women.

      WHEN TO END YOUR SENTENCES WITH DESHŌ/DARŌ

      Deshō and darō are derived from the polite form desu of da. They are used when asking for the listener’s agreement or confirmation. The meaning is equivalent to “isn’t it?” “don’t you?” etc., like English tag-questions. Both appear at the end of the sentence with a rising intonation.

      The polite form deshō is predominantly used by women; the plain form darō is mostly used by men. These are placed directly after nouns, adjectival nouns, adjectives, and verbs.

Anata gakusei deshō? / Kimi gakusei darō?	You’re a student, aren’t you?
(N) (N)Ⓜ
Kirei deshō? / Kirei darō?	It’s pretty, isn’t it?
(Adj N) (Adj N)Ⓜ
Atatakai deshō? / Atatakai darō?	It’s warm, isn’t it?
(Adj) (Adj)Ⓜ
Anata mo kuru deshō? / Kimi mo kuru darō?	You’re coming too, aren’t you?
(V) (V)Ⓜ

      Deshō or darō also means “I guess,” “must be” or “probably” when one is fairly sure of the outcome. Both are spoken with a falling intonation.

Are wa tori deshō/darō.	It’s probably a bird.
Obāsan mo iku deshō/darō.	My grandma will probably go, too.
Shiai wa enki deshō/darō.	The game must be postponed.

      The adverb tabun (maybe/probably) is often used at the beginning of a sentence in pair with deshō/darō. By using deshō/darō with tabun, it can show the height of the speaker’s guess and the degree of possibility.

Tabun kanai wa ikanai darō. Ⓜ	My wife probably won’t go. (more certain)
Tabun Nihon wa anzen deshō.	Japan is most probably safe.

      Practice

      Read the following English expressions and put in the particles or derived forms from da in the blank, to correctly reflect the given English and complete the Japanese sentence.

      1. Women would say: That’s not my daughter’s toy.

      Sore wa musume _______________ omocha ja nai _______________.

      2. Men and women would say: Is this a used car?

      Kore chūkosha _______________ _______________ ?

      3. Men would say: That’s probably a tree.

      Tabun are wa ki _______________.

      4. Men would say: That’s a no-smoking area, you know. (It’s prohibition of smoking there)

      Soko wa kin’en _______________ _______________.

      Bentō

      Some Americans bring sandwiches or hamburgers to their office or school for lunch. Traditionally Japanese people brought a bentō (packed lunch) which consists of cooked rice and various side dishes.

      These days, however, most city office workers and high school students buy their lunch as they have no time to prepare a bentō at home. Some go to restaurants or fast food outlets, but many simply buy a bentō from a bentō shop, convenience store, or supermarket. (Some stores also do bentō deliveries.)

      Bentō is very popular among Japanese people because they are warm, delicious, cheap, and nutritious, and can be purchased at any time and in many places.