I’m a guy and use わ instead ofよ. Is this at all off putting to native speakers?

10 comments

1. Guys and gals say it differently (though as u/TheCheeseOfYesterday pointed out, modern women don’t really use the “feminine わ”). The feminine わ’s rising intonation will make you sound effeminate in ways it does not make native dudes sound effeminate since they drop the pitch on the syllable わ. In effect, this means that in order to not make yourself out to be an オカマ or something, your voice should still be monotone, in a way. More so than if you were trying to sound like a non-masculine male, anyway.

   Also, the feminine わ and よ are not interchangeable. Hence how you’ll hear stuff like 「行くわよ〜」, so that might be one reason some people find it weird: your usage isn’t always grammatically natural.

2. i’ve never heard anyone (man or woman) use the feminine わ unironically irl so those people probably thought you were joking or something

3. I was talking to a cute native female speaker and she said for a man to use “wa” is laughably feminine and weird and she was like “I don’t even use wa”.

4. Just change the way you say that わ and make it sound like kansai-ben, which sounds masculine, and you’re good to go. People might find it weird if you otherwise speak like a Tokyoite, but who cares really, you’re not Japanese.

5. I just asked my native friend who is gay and he said that he would “assume you are gay and potentially hit on you if you were attractive.” He further said that it would be like coming to America and speaking in a “gay accent” expecting to be putting yourself out there in a softer way. Finally he said that it’s normal to use わ sometimes but not heavily and that men are more expected to use ぞ、ぜ、and よ。

6. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a native japanese speaker use feminine わ. The current trend is using ね (as in そうですね) while men use よ (そうだよ)

7. No. Don’t do this. You don’t get to come into another language learning process and make your own rules and say it’s because “oh, ya know, I’m just so 冷たく聞こえるような声＂whatever the f you even think that means. People won’t think “oh yeah, can hear the coldness in his voice.” They’ll just think you’re weird, or gay. Regardless, do whatever you want because you aren’t Japanese and no one cares.

8. I… definitely wouldn’t recommend that. You will definitely be seen as messing around, odd, queer or pretending to be a character and if that isn’t what you’re going for then I’d stop before it becomes a habit.

   I’ve linked a video from a queer Japanese twitter user. He uses the feminine わ in conjunction to よ for reference.
   “弱い部分もあれば強い部分もあると思うわよ”

   https://twitter.com/takuya_hyon/status/1630320256697921536?t=LX4ytcMHYnv84jE32XhSMg&s=19

9. Men in Kansai use わ all the time. I live in Kansai and hear it way more often than よ. But they use a falling intonation instead of a raising one.

10. Your question implies that your Japanese level isn’t at a level where you could pick one syllable as a mannerism and swap it. 90% of communication is non verbal so maybe try to be a bit cheerful and friendly instead.