40414
I need some additional information on gender differences when speaking
Japanese.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-27T13:42:15.620
40372
2016-10-28T01:16:55.287
18435
question
sentence-final-particles
Is using the particle の at the end of a sentence considered feminine?
According to "A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar", page 322 and 324:  

の: a sentence-final particle used by a female speaker or a child to indicate
an explanation or emotive emphasis.

The の is used by females or children only in an informal situation. There are
times when adult male speakers use の in questions, but they do not use it in
declarative sentences.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-27T14:21:21.933
40374
2016-10-27T14:21:21.933
18157
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answer
It depends.

の in a question to make sure is used by both male and female people. So the
following lines can be naturally said by a male or female speaker.

> 「行くの？ 行かないの？」
>
> 「ディズニーランドに行きたいの？」
>
> 「高校で水泳部だったの？」

Assertive sentences which end with の are usually feminine, although there are
a few men who use this kind of の. For example,

> 「ディズニーランドに行きたいの。」
>
> 「ミニーちゃんが大好きなの〜〜〜！」
>
> 「『ハムレット』は読んだけど、『リア王』はまだ読んでないの。」

If native Japanese speakers read or hear these sentences above, most of them
would think that a girl or woman is saying the sentences.

の following です or ます in an assertive sentence sounds elegant and very
feminine. For example,

> 「松田さんは、着物の先生ですの。」
>
> 「日曜は、京都へ行きますの。」

However, if the sentence is strongly assertive, の is naturally used by both
male and female people like so.

> 「ディズニーランドに行きたいの！」
>
> 「分かってるの！ 分かってるけど、間違えちゃったの！」
>
> 「浮気なんかしてないってば。ずっと、仕事してたの！」

This kind of の can be used in an imperative sentence. For example,

> 「違う、北じゃなくて、南に行くの！」
>
> 「ここでは、大きな声出さないの。」

This kind of imperative sentence is also not gender specific.

If の(no) is pronounced longer like のー(nō), it sounds like a male senior’s
talking or dialect. This kind of のー is generally written as のう, although う(u)
sound is actually not pronounced.

> 「懐かしいのう。」
>
> 「山口さんは元気かのう。」
>
> 「あの魚は[美味]{う・ま}かったのう。」

の meaning もの or のもの is used by both male and female people. For example,

> 花子「大きいのと小さいの、どっちにする？」  
>  太郎「小さいの。」
>
> 太郎「うどんは、関東のと関西の、どっちが好き？」  
>  花子「関西の。」
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-28T01:16:55.287
40414
2016-10-28T01:16:55.287
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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answer