Episode 002: New Beginnings

Today we are going to talk about another important particle. In fact we will be covering two particles. 

Today’s particles are sentence ending particles and give flavor to your Japanese. These two particles are ね & よ. Each of these particles are particles that deal with a major principle in Japanese, that is Area of Information. In Japanese it is improper to assume something about someone else. For example: I cannot say:

• you like sushi or manga (x)
• but I can say that I think you may like sushi or manga (o)

I can say that because I am stating my opinion, and not assuming your information. Your information are things like your feelings, thoughts, opinions and anything about you outside of obvious things like hair color or age. Think of it like a sphere around each person. Their thoughts and feelings, their personal bubble is something you cannot assume. It would simply be rude to do so in Japanese culture.

This is important because these two particles are used to share information. 

よ is used much like a ‘!’ mark. It is used to share you information into their sphere by interjecting you opinion. When I say I like Podcasts I can simply state my opinion. However, when I add よ I am interjecting it into your sphere, not in a mean or hurtful way, but in a matter of fact way.

ポッドキャストが好きです。　→　ポッドキャストが好きですよ。 

ね on the other hand is more often translated as “isn’t it” or things of that nature. That is because when the speaker uses it they are confirming something. For example, I may not say you think red is the best color, but I can say you like red, don’t you. That way the speaker is not stating something within the personal bubble of the listener, but simply stating an opinion or confirming something that is an assumption.

赤色が好きです。→　赤色が好きですね。 

In this chapter try to figure out what the combination ね & よ mean together.