Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
Wild Nihongo!
かしら / かなあ

かしら / かなあ

かしら / かなあ Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Particle

Essential Meaning: I wonder (informal feminine expression)

Construction: 

  • (Verb / い-Adjective) informal + かしら
    • 話はなすかしら [I wonder if X speaks]
    • 食たべるかしら [I wonder if X eats]
    • 高たかいかしら [I wonder if X is expensive]
  • (な-Adjective Stem / Noun) + [X / だった] + かしら
    • 静しずかかしら [I wonder if X is quiet]
    • 先生せんせいかしら [I wonder if X is a teacher]

Notes:

  • かしら is an informal feminine expression that conveys the idea of “I wonder if“. It is an idiomatic offshoot of the construction か + しらない. The male version of かしら is かなあ, and it is grammatically identical to かしら.
  • かしら is generally used in informal situations (i.e. with informal predicates), but it can also be used with a formal verb in very formal situations.
    • E.g. そこは静しずかですかしら。[I wonder if that place is quiet.]
  • かしら can not be used directly with a past tense verb to express the idea of (“I wondered“). Instead, かしら can be used as an embedded subordinate clause along with the past tense main predicate 思おった [X Thought / X wondered].
    • E.g. 私わたしは松本まつもとさんは来くるかしらと思おもった。[I wondered whether Matsumoto-san would come.]
    • E.g. 山本やまもとさんは大川おおがわさんは先生せんせいかしらと思おもった。[Yamamoto-san wondered whether Ogawa was a teacher.]

Example Sentences:

松本まつもとさんは来くるかしら。[I wonder if Matsumoto-san is coming?]

あの先生せんせいの授業じゅぎょうはおもしろいかしら。[I wonder if that teacher’s lessons are interesting?]

幸子さちこさんは何なにが好すきかしら。[I wonder what Sachiko likes?]

あの人ひとはだれかしら。[I wonder who that person is?]

WILD Examples:

At 0:33, listen for this line: 私わたしのこと好すきかしら、はっきりきかせて [I wonder if you like me. Tell me clearly!]
Listen to this line at 1:45: どこから話はなすかなあ、君きみが眠ねむていた間あいだのストーリ [Where should I start? It’s a story of the time when your were asleep.]

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