Ending Particle: よ

The main key feature of よ is to convey new information to someone. It's quite the opposite to ね that it assumes the speaker knows something that listener may not be aware of. It indicates that the speaker is clearly confident in what they are saying and wants to make sure the listener understands or becomes aware by sharing this new information with them.

よ may also be used to express that something new is being offered to the listener like a different point of view or to give friendly advice and suggestions. The latter is similar to the sentence-ending particle ね but with the nuance of being more assertive, depending on the context.

The use of よ does not necessarily mean the listener doesn't know something. It may be used to be more assertive, remind the listener of something or change their thoughts or understandings. Depending on the context, it can came across as being pushy or demanding which may upset or offend people, especially those higher in status than you.

When placed after nouns and na-adjectives, よ often comes after です or だ. i-adjectives don't need these since all conjugations take place with the i-adjectives themselves, the same with verbs too. If よ is used by itself with nouns and na-adjectives, it may give it a more politer and softer tone which isn't common.

よ to Make Someone Aware

One feature of よ is to get the attention of someone and make them aware of something you know. This is on the assumption that you know something the other person doesn't or is not yet aware of. This may sometimes be very similar to saying something like "you know" or "I tell you" and so on.

Without よ, the statement in sentence (4) for example 「カベに何か書かれてる」 simply conveys the fact that "something is written on the wall". It's an objective statement of observation without clear indication if it's directed towards someone else.

By adding よ, the speaker assumes the listener is not yet aware of this and is sharing this new information confidently with them. Due to the assertiveness that よ portrays, it grabs the attention of the listener and informs them or makes sure they know what the speaker knows.

Think about if someone was getting off the bus and you noticed their phone left behind on the seat, you may say something like "You left your phone". You would use よ because they are obviously not aware and you want their attention to inform them. You are also confident that the phone belongs to them.

Also, notice that we reused an example from the lesson about ね. 「ボクはエフィリンだよ」 works here because the character Efilin is confirming Kirby's name then introducing himself in a very casual and friendly manner. Kirby is not yet aware of Efilin's name, that's why よ is being used.

※ Example sentences (2) and (4) were taken from the game 星のカービィディスカバリー (Kirby Discovery of the Stars).

※ The use of filler words such as "you know", "you see", "like", "right?" and so on are not necessary. We are only showing them here just to show the kind of emphasis or feeling that the statement may give from an English perspective.

よ to Present Opinions

Whenever you have an opinion, other people may not know what it is until you actually share it with them. よ in this context is used to share your thoughts and understandings with other people. It emphasises that this information belongs to you and you are sharing it with others.

These examples are based on the assumption that the listener hasn't experienced what was mentioned yet. For example, you may have enjoyed listening to some new music but know your friend hasn't heard it before so you express your opinion that "This music is good" to encourage them to listen to it too.

Using よ here also shows that you are confident in what you are saying in a positive and friendly manner without being aggressive.

Depending on the context, it may have the opposite effect and make you sound self-assertive in a negative way. That is to say, focusing more on your own personal opinions and beliefs without much regard for other people's perspectives. This is not all bad, though, like making someone aware they are wrong.

よ for Contradiction or Disagreement

Sometimes, it may be that the other person is wrong about something and you want to inform them to change their mind. Maybe, you want them to be aware of your own perspective to indicate that you are both not on the same page or there's some misunderstanding.

Here, Whisper senses something unusual near a tree and wants to check it out but Keita can't see anything so he makes this clear by informing Whisper that nothing is there. Keita uses よ to express and assert his own perspective that he is unable to see anything; they are clearly not on the same page.

When others disagree with something you said or assume you to be wrong, they may use よ to inform you that they are not on the same page; this also works if you disagree with the listener. For example, let's say someone said 「この音楽いいね」 "this music is good, right?" but you disagree that it's good.

Using よ with a negative sentence this way expresses that you disagree or believe they are wrong and you want them to understand this by sharing your own viewpoint. However, this may still sound rather strong, depending on the context.

よ for Being Self-Assertive

If the person you are speaking to already knows something or is obviously not on the page as you, it may imply that you are trying to persuade them to change their own thoughts or opinions. If used directly, it could upset or offend other people.

You are basically sharing your own perspective on something kind of like if someone doesn't like a certain song or piece of music and you are telling them they should listen to it because you think it's good. It acts as a way to persuade the listener to consider your point of view. Remember from a previous section: "It emphasises that this information belongs to you and you are sharing it with others".

Instead of using よ, it may be best to use ね if the listener already shares this information or opinion. For that reason, saying 「この音楽いいね」 "this music is good, right?" may be more appropriate.

As you can see, while よ doesn't necessarily assume that the listener has not heard the music before, it can imply a certain level of confidence of opinion that the "music is good" in a straightforward and affirmative manner. While this may be more casual, maybe you can see how this may come across to someone who has already heard the music before as being forceful or just plain rude.

If the listener is already aware or if the aim is to convey a sense of shared understanding and friendliness, ね is probably the better choice here. If the aim is to change the listener's perspective or claim they are wrong or not on the same page, よ is more suitable to convery your own thoughts or opinions.

よ for Suggestions

Giving suggestions already implies you are stating something new to the listener and requires an element of opinion. Adding よ gives a suggestion an extra layer of assertiveness. Depending on the context, it may sound more casual and friendly but the extra assertiveness may also make it sound pushy.

1. 一緒に行こうよ

   isshoni ikou yo

   (Come on) let's go together!

2. 一緒に行かない？

   isshoni ikanai?

   (Shall we) not go together?

There is nothing really wrong with sentence (1), especially if you are very close friends but if you want to avoid sounding a little too casual, assertive or pushy, you could drop the よ or even better, rephrase it to something like sentence (2) which is less direct, less forceful and slightly more formal.

If the main purpose is to be more assertive and invite the listener to accompany you willingly, then using よ as seen in sentence (1) is the better choice. Sentence (2) on the other hand, allows the listener to decide whether they want to join without pressuring them which may not be what you want as you are seeking that you definitely want to "go together" and they may say "no".

※ Example sentence (1) was taken from the game 妖怪ウォッチ (Youkai Watch).

よ to Express Acceptance or Permission

When someone requests something of you, your response by nature is new information shared with the person asking. After all, they would not be asking if they already assumed you're on the same page. For that reason, よ is the best choice when agreeing to something or giving permission.

Here, the use of よ in Shino's response emphasises the agreement to watch Slowpoke for a little while; it offers a positive, affirmative answer to the request. Yuta doesn't know if Shino will agree or not and Shino is presenting information that Yuta doesn't know yet; that is, the acceptance to do something.

This works the same with giving permission which can be very useful. If someone were to ask "May I take a photo?", you can use 「いいですよ」 or 「いいよ」 to give them permission. Let's consider the next example from the video game Animal Crossing:

In both of these examples, Shino uses よ to emphasise he is in agreement of what is asked in a positive and friendly manner. If Shino where to politely decline, he could say 「ごめんダメなんです」 "Sorry, I can't (right now)"; here, it's better to not use よ to decline due to its assertiveness. ごめん softens the refusal and ダメ means "not possible" or "can't" making it clear that the request cannot be granted.

Just be aware that when you are dealing with someone of higher status, using よ may be considered less respectful; the use of よ when expressing the acceptance or permission of something can imply that you are the person of authority. Depending on the context, it may displease or offend people of higher status. Instead, you could simply say 「はい」.

While よ may be polite and appropriate in many situations, be mindful and convey the appropriate level of respect as it can imply an extra layer of assertiveness that may not align with the kind of respect that other people might expect.

※ Please note that character names from these games have been altered to "Yuta" and "Shino" as not all of these characters have defined names.

よ to Decline

When declining someone or something, よ is not necessary but it does add an extra layer of emphasis as to why you are declining; it creates the nuance of wanting the other person to understand from your perspective, rather than a shared understand.

If Shino isn't able to play "Animal Crossing" next time, he may use よ in his response to indicate this. Yuta assumed that this would be a good suggestion for Shino but Shino replies with よ to indicate he is not on the same page as Yuta and declines the invitation. Be aware that using よ like this may come across as rather strong. It may even sound like you are complaining, annoyed or not happy.

While you can answer with or without it, the added よ can place extra emphasis to your answer; this can be useful if you want to express an absolute or direct refusal to something such as saying "no" when someone asks something of you; for example, if someone asks to borrow a lot of money from you and you really don't want to lend them any.

Additional Notes

Related Lessons and References

Here is a list of other pages as a reference of what else you may be interested in reading: