In informal situations, during a conversation with friends or the family, women can use "no" instead of "ka".
Stefanie
Aren't there expressions that use this ending の that are used by both men and women or is it ALWAYS female speech?
yookoso
I hear males sometimes use this の.
Miki
何がですの would mostly be female speech. Men would be prone to say 何がですか.
bamboo4
何しているの is a female saying?
g
You may often hear female use it but this is used by male, too.
Miki
heh so that's why I get all those strange looks from guys, I sound like my GF ^_^ I'll try to add some more examples after the fact of real-world conversational stuff :)
ninja_k
何しているの is short for 何をしているのですか. Latter is polite but the former is casual. I think you use it in a wrong situation. It is not strange at all that men use it. ;)
Miki
[F] denotes use in female speech.
Amatuka
Where did you pick up the example? This sounds like from anime, game or a girl from a rich family.
Miki
Hmm, looks like fan-fiction actually. ^^v Hope it isn't too bad.
Amatuka
Yes, this example is not strange at all. I am learning Japanese from a Japanese male, and this is how he explained the familiar usage of "no". It's not uncommon, he says, and you only add "desu ka" for polite company.
Christopher
Is it safe to say that the "-no" question particle is representative of the word "it", as how "it" was used in both examples?
caith
caith - not really... the translation just comes accross a bit differently in natural english. the の nominalizes the preceding clause, hence why it, in this case, is the natural equivalent. But it's not a 1-1 mapping the other way...
ninja_k
men can say 〜の but it is technically only for females.that's becasue it sounds very effeminate. many men now are saying 〜の and even 〜ね, butif i were a guy, i would stay away from it！
ellieluvsu
A simple rule of thumb is, if you are a man, skip "no" at the end and you won't be led into that ambivalent world.
bamboo4
In an interrogative sentence, の by males is common, but perfectly not in an affirmative. #882 ですの is old-fashioned. We prefer to 何で?(if he/she is familiar) or 何がですか?(if not)
sato
[#3260]: "still" should be changed to "only". "Still" implies that it has been 4 o'clock for a long time. But of course, it is only ever 4 o'clock for an instant.
seanohagan
どしたの？ What happened? To a child who's suddenly crying. Said by everyone, whether you're male or female.
