Ending Particle: よ vs ね + よね

There are many sentence-ending particles in Japanese and as you've seen so far with よ and ね, they are very useful with expressing the different nuances a sentence can have. While ね may be seen as "right?" and よ as "you know", these do not fit every situation.

Despite many comparisons you may have encountered in other resources, sentence-ending particles don't actually have any meaning at all and there are no equivalent words, meanings or translations in English. For that reason, try to not strictly translate sentence-ending particles between Japanese and English.

Sometimes, there are no words in English that will fit a situation best and they may tend to get ignored, lost in translation or the sentence may even be re-written; for example, you want to show your friend something you just discovered and say "check this out!", adding よ may get translated as "oi, check this out!", "Come on, check this out!" or just "check this out!".

※ In the UK, "oi" is not as rude or angry sounding as most American's claim it to be but it is an informal, casual way of grabbing someone's attention (Just not with people you don't know well as it still sounds strong). Saying "hey" is softer and more formal which ね does well.

Overview of ね and よ

The main concept of ね is shared information; it indicates that the information being shared doesn't just belong to the speaker alone but the listener too. It assumes that the listener is on the same page or has some prior knowledge of what is being said and this may create a sense of inviting acknowledgement or confirmation with the listener.

While ね does not necessarily mean that the listener is on the same page, it is still presented in that way. Depending on the context, this may come across as rude; for example, if the listener does not know something and the speaker is acting as if they should already know because it's "common knowledge".

The main concept of よ is to convey new information or provide a new perspective to someone; this is information that belongs to the speaker and they are sharing it with the listener who may not be on the same page nor have prior knowledge of what is being said. It can grab the attention of someone and make them aware of something they didn't know.

The use of よ does not necessarily mean that the listener doesn't know something but it can be used to be more assertive or to persuade someone to change their own thoughts or opinions or to share with them a different perspective of something. However, this may also come across as being pushy or demanding.

To Inform or Make Someone Aware

Let's say that someone you know recently sent you a letter and you want to let your friend know about it so you can both read it together; which sentence-ending particle would be the best choice here?

With this context in mind, using よ would be the best choice as you are informing your friend of something that they are not yet aware of; the fact that you have received a letter. For all your friend knows, you are still yet to hear anything back. Using ね is like you are seeking agreement or confirmation about the fact that you had received a letter; this could work if you are rudely assuming it should be obvious.

Now, what if your friend is already aware of something? For example, it's Christmas, there's snow and it's rather cold. Your friend suggests getting some ice cream to eat. They likely already know it's cold but they want ice cream? Which sentence-ending particle would be the best to use here?

Here, the best option would be to use よ; while your friend already knows that it is cold, maybe they just doesn't realise how cold it is. For that reason, you are offering them a new perspective based on your own thoughts. While ね has that sense of shared information, it's only stating how you feel about the weather, not about your friends suggestion to eat ice cream in cold weather.

To Express Feelings of Admiration

Imagine you stumbled across your friend playing the piano during practice. You were surprised how good they were so you decided to give them a compliment after they finished playing. Which particle would be best to express your feelings of admiration, よ or ね?

It would be most appropriate to use ね in this situation because this kind of compliment indicates that your friend's piano playing being good is obvious and that others will likely agree; it's shared information. While it is also possible to use よ in this context, it would assume your friend doesn't think their own playing is good and this may not sound very polite or friendly so it's not commonly used this way.

If it just so happens that your friend disagrees with you and doesn't think their own playing to be good, you may then respond again but this time with よ instead.

Since your friend disagrees, your statement of their playing is no longer shared information. Instead, you are sharing your own perspective. Using よ here shows that the opinion of your friend's piano playing being good belongs to you, it's what you think and you are sharing it with them.

Even though using ね is still possible, this kind of repetition can come across as rather pushy. After all, it's also a way to encourage someone to consider the idea and express agreement but in this context, they had already rejected your compliment so it would probably sound rude. Imagine if you disagreed with someone but they kept on repeating the same thing over and over until you agreed, annoying right?

To Make Requests and Suggestions

Now, let's imagine that it's the first day at a new school with your friend, you'll meet many new faces and take part in clubs or other activities. However, you know that you won't be in the same class as each other or even join the same club. With that in mind, you make the suggestion to make lots of new friends. Which would be best to use in this situation, よ or ね?

Here, using ね is the better option since it's very likely that your friend is also thinking the same thing or at least will agree with you. However, if you have any doubts about their willingness to make friends, you may use よ to encourage or motivate them, giving them that extra little push.

While both of these sentence-ending particles display somewhat the same purpose, よ is stronger and provides assertiveness; on the other hand, ね can be used for mild assertions. An easy way to remember the different nuances is that ね softens requests, suggestions, commands and so on.

Let's now imagine you and your friend were deciding what game to play next and you thought that "Animal Crossing" would be a good idea. Which sentence-ending particle would you use?

Being less direct would be more natural here, not using よ or ね but forming an indirect question instead, for example 「あつ森をプレイしませんか？」 (Why don't we play Animal Crossing?). Forming an indirect question like this allows your friend to decide whether they want to play "Animal Crossing" or not without being forceful, pressuring them or deciding what's best for them.

A suggestion in this way is already like a command to do something and the added assertiveness that よ creates may sound rather pushy in this situation. It can even act as a way to persuade your friend to play "Animal Crossing" because you think it's a good idea; after all, よ in this context is only considering your own thoughts, not how your friend feels about the idea.

The use of ね naturally indicates shared information and due to this, it may sound like you know what is best for your friend; after all, a suggestion by nature belongs to you and you are offering it to your friend. This "shared information" can imply that your suggestion should be obvious to your friend. For all you know, maybe your friend isn't on the same page as you.

The difference between this example and the previous one of "Let's make lots of friends", is that in the first example, you are hoping your friend makes more friends so they don't feel lonely when you are not in the same classes or clubs. Turning it into an indirect question removes that kind of feeling and only presents it as a choice than an encouragement; not exactly the outcome you want.

When asking someone to do something, ね acts as a way of giving a mild command. Be careful though, a suggestion to do something specific can sound like you know what is best for the listener; this is mostly common when parents are speaking to their children.

As you can see, the Mother is suggesting to Keita to not be too late returning home. While Keita will already know this, the mother, knowing what's best for her child, uses ね as a mild command to remind him. Using よ would be useful if she had reasons to believe that he will be late. Also, turning it into an indirect question is like giving him the choice whether he wants to come back early or not.

Sentence Ending Particle: よね

So far, we've looked at when information is shared between the listener and speaker (ね) and when the speaker offers new information or a different perspective to the listener (よ) but what if you are not too sure about the opinions, information or previous knowledge you have?

Here, we have a combination of よね (but never the other way round ねよ); by doing this, we are conveying new information with よ but with the added nuance of ね to express that maybe the listener is also on the same page. Overall, よね is very close in meaning to ね but for something not as obvious.

1. 今日は暑いね

   kyou wa atsui ne

   It's hot today, right?

2. 今日は暑いよね

   kyou wa atsui yo ne

   It's hot today, right?

Generally, you would use ね when something is obvious: In sentence (1), The speaker assumes that the listener also feels hot and is simply seeking the listener's agreement about it: How could it not be hot? The sun is glaring and it's like 40°C outside.

When using よね, you must be less sure about something, especially if it's not obvious: in sentence (2), the speaker does not assume the listener also feels hot (よ) but is still seeking the listener's confirmation about it (ね). Maybe the listener doesn't think it's hot: It's only 10°C but I'm too warm.

As you can see, while よね works rather the same as ね, it instead conveys a level of certainty, kind of like saying "isn't it?" or "don't you think?" as if you're not too sure (よ is showing that this information belongs to you and ね is seeking agreement).

Let's look at some more examples and see if you can understand why よね is used:

1. ガチャルポンのフィギュアをあつめているんですよね？

   gacharupon no figyua o atsumete iru n'desu yo ne?

   You collect Capsule Toy figures, don't you?

2. ねえ、君！！ それ妖怪ウォッチだよね！

   nee, kimi!! sore youkai u~occhi da yo ne!

   Hey, you!! That's a Youkai Watch, isn't it!?

In both of these sentences, よ shows that the information given belongs to the speaker and ね is seeking confirmation from the listener about it.

In sentence (1) the speaker doesn't know whether the listener collects Capsule Toy figures or not. Without a sentence-ending particle, it would just be a statement of fact, ね would present this fact as obvious, like assuming the listener should already know this and よ would be like the listener does not yet know this and is being informed about it. With that, よね is more suitable here.

In sentence (2), this is the same. The speaker, being unsure about the watch the listener is wearing, is assuming that the listener knows what the Youkai Watch is and is seeking confirmation from them. よ is showing that the knowledge of the object being a Youkai Watch belongs to the speaker and ね is used to seek confirmation from the listener about it.

※ Example sentence (1) was taken from the game 星のカービィディスカバリー (Kirby Discovery of the Stars).

※ Example sentence (2) was taken from the game 妖怪ウォッチ4++ (Youkai Watch 4++).

Formality: Casual vs Politeness

Sentence-ending particles are often required in casual speech but not in formal and polite language. In Japanese, formal speaking is natural when presented in a straightforward manner.

Adding sentence-ending particles can make formal speech sound more friendlier which can work if you are close in relationship with the person you're speaking to or when trying to form a friendly connection with others like your peers or even customers; Speaking casually is already informal and being straightforward can sound unnatural or even offensive without the use of sentence-ending particles.

When speaking casually, your choice of sentence-ending particles depend on the situation and its purpose. Because of this, it's easier to speak formal Japanese if you are not sure what to use as this works best in almost any situation. This is one of many reasons why learning resources cover formal language first.

Formal / Polite Speech

Let's consider the sentence 「中でお待ちしてます」 which simply means "I'll be waiting inside"; without any use of sentence-ending particles, this statement sounds polite and is very suitable in any formal or professional situation.

This statement may be straightforward but it is softened by the politeness of the ます form. Even though it may sound stiff or distant in less formal situations, no sentence-ending particles are required, the listener should still be able to understand what is conveyed.

Sentence-ending Particles

If we were to use the sentence-ending particle よ, we can inform the listener and make them aware of the fact that "I'll be waiting inside", regardless of its politeness.

Either 「中でお待ちしてますよ」 or 「中で待っているよ」 can be used in less formal situations or with those such as friends or close colleagues and so on. The differences between these two are in the level of politeness and formality being expressed.

Informal / Casual Speech

If we were to use casual speech like 「中で待っている」 without any sentence-ending particles, it can sound unnatural and may even come across as offensive depending on the context; this is due to how direct and straightforward the statement already sounds. The informality can make it sound impolite.

If you're not too sure what sentence-ending particle to use, it's best to speak polite Japanese instead, until you get use to using and understanding the concepts of these particles.

※ Example sentence was taken from the game ポケットモンスター Let's Go! (Pokemon Let's Go!).

Summary

The main key feature of ね is shared information. This is information generally belonging to both the speaker and listener. It can be used to: seek agreement or confirmation; express emotions or feelings of admiration; soften requests; express mild assertions or opinions; indicate something that should be obvious; or as a filler word (usually for attention).

The main key feature of よ is new information. This is information that generally belongs to you. It can be used to: inform or make others aware of something; express varying opinions or perspectives; be more assertive; make stronger requests; be pushy or demanding; indicate scolding or contempt; give advise; or express your acceptance or permission.

The use of よね is the same as ね for seeking confirmation but for something not as obvious. This has a level of certainty, kind of like you're not sure about something.

Casual speech will most likely require sentence-ending particles otherwise it may come across as abrupt, impolite or even offensive. Formal speech does not usually require sentence-ending particles but it can make it sound more conversational and friendly. Sentence-ending particles without だ may make casual and informal speech sound softer or less direct but it is not as common.

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: