Male and Female Language in Spoken Japanese

In colloquial Japanese a distinction is made between how women speak and how men speak. Most of these differences pertain to the use of certain words, though especially the informal speech has a slightly different grammar for women and men.

Gender Forms

Women can often leave out the (da) at the end of sentences, while men should never do so. Women may also use the emphatic particle (wa) at the end of sentences. Men may do this on occasion, depending on the area of Japan you are in, but as a general rule it is recommended for men not to use it, as it sounds slightly effeminate.

The use of the question particle (ka) in informal speech can as a rule only be used by men since it sounds tough.

In general, tough-sounding words and phrases are only used by male interlocutors. However, especially in metropolitan areas like Tokyo and Osaka you will hear more and more young women using those words and phrases as well.

Feminine expressions	Masculine expressions
きれいね。 (Kirei ne.) It's pretty, isn't it? 行くわ。 (Iku wa.) I'm leaving. 行きますわ。 (Ikimasu wa.) I'm leaving. 行く? (Iku?) Are you leaving?* 行くかしら。 (Iku ka shira.) I may be leaving.	きれいだね。 (Kirei da ne.) It's pretty, isn't it?* 行く。 (Iku.) I'm leaving.* 行きます。 (Ikimasu.) I'm leaving.* 行くか。 (Iku ka.) Are you leaving? 行くかもしれない。 (Iku ka mo shirenai.) I may be leaving.*
Feminine pronouns	Masculine pronouns
あたし (atashi) I, me 私 (watashi) I, me* 君 (kimi) you (singular)*	僕 (boku) I, me 俺 (ore) I, me (street slang) お前 (o-mae) you (singular) (street slang) こいつ (koitsu) you (directive pronoun, as in "this guy"; rather hostile) 手前 (temae) you (archaic, extremely hostile in its corrupted formtemee てめえ)
Words used for feminine objects, women, and small children	Words used for masculine objects, and men
可愛い (kawaii) to be cute ちゃん (chan) endearing suffix	かっこいい (kakkoii) to be cool 君 (kun) endearing suffix

Sentence finals

Feminine words	Masculine words
わ wa: gives a distinctly soft effect; not to be confused with wa in the Kansai dialect わよ wa yo: informative わね wa ne: ne is a tag question roughly meaning "don't you agree?" It is sometimes placed at the beginning, rather than the end of sentences and functions to soften の no: gives a distinctly soft effect; のよ no yo: informative/assertive のね no ne: explanatory/tag question かしら kashira: I wonder	かい kai: masculine form of the question marker ka ぞ zo: emphatic/informative; more positive than ze ぜ ze : emphatic/informative よ yo : emphatic/informative; also used by women, but women often soften by adding wa かなぁ kanaa*: I wonder

* marks forms used by both women and men