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My understanding of using `わ` at the end of a sentence is that it's
essentially just for emphasis, just like using `よ`, and that only women can
use it.

However, as far as I know, women can, and often do, use `よ` as well.

So is there a difference in meaning, nuance, or context which would make a
woman choose to use `わ` instead of `よ`?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-27T05:40:22.970
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question
word-choice sentence-final-particles register gender particle-わ
When women use わ at the end of a sentence, is it different from よ?
In general, sentence final particle use varies a lot depending on the region.
In Kyoto, where I live, for example, men and women both use わ freely, and even
throw out the occasional 「わよ」. I think it sounds softer, more restrained and
less insistent than よ but that's only my personal opinion. I haven't seen a
thorough breakdown of the usage for the two, but I think you'd have to dig
through academic papers to find something. I've been told that the meaning is
essentially the same.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-27T10:15:05.107
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answer
_Disclaimer: I'm just a random Japanese native and my answer below isn't based
on formal research or anything like that._

The feminine 「わ」 seems to have become almost extinct. You see it in text books
and novels, but it's extremely rare to hear people actually using it.

The kansai 「わ」 is different from the feminine 「わ」. The feminine 「わ」 is used in
標準語 or 東京弁 and not in 関西弁. The kansai 「わ」 is only used in 関西弁.

The kansai 「わ」 is used by both male and female, and has no feminine effect
even when used by female. The feminine 「わ」 does have an feminine effect, and
is sometimes used to signal that the character in a book is a female etc. The
two わ are also pronounced differently.

Interestingly, 「わよ」 is exclusively feminine 「わ」. Male usage of 「わよ」 is
associated with transgender and homo-sexuality (talents like 美輪明宏 use it,
presumably to emphasize their femininity?). Usage of わよ seems to be rare among
Japanese female (at least in younger generations).

So to summarize, Japanese female mostly use something other than わ nowadays.

As an anecdotal evidence, I'll cite this [chiebukuro
question](http://okwave.jp/qa/q1666636.html):

```

    ドラマや漫画（アニメ）に出てくる女性はほとんどの人が
    語尾に
    「～わよ」「～よ」「～わよ」「～だわ」など
    （例・「知らないわよ！」
     ・「だからアホなのよ」
     ・「そう思ったわ」
     ・「おちゃめだわ～！」） 
     つけますが、今までこういう女の子言葉使う方実際には見たことがありません。
    
```

For people's opinion on this, you can take a look at [the
question](http://okwave.jp/qa/q1666636.html) (many obnoxious comments
unfortunately, but there you go)
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2011-08-27T13:06:30.713
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2014-09-08T15:00:00.630
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* `よ` expresses that the speaker assumes that the recipient does not know what is said.
  * `わ` does not have such implication, and it just adds feminine flavour to the sentence.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-27T13:11:42.383
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2011-08-28T03:15:29.780
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answer