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
- 話すかしら [I wonder if X speaks]
- 食べるかしら [I wonder if X eats]
- 高いかしら [I wonder if X is expensive]
- (な-Adjective Stem / Noun) + [X / だった] + かしら
- 静かかしら [I wonder if X is quiet]
- 先生かしら [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 思った [X Thought / X wondered].
- E.g. 私は松本さんは来るかしらと思った。[I wondered whether Matsumoto-san would come.]
- E.g. 山本さんは大川さんは先生かしらと思った。[Yamamoto-san wondered whether Ogawa was a teacher.]
Example Sentences:
松本さんは来るかしら。[I wonder if Matsumoto-san is coming?]
あの先生の授業はおもしろいかしら。[I wonder if that teacher’s lessons are interesting?]
幸子さんは何が好きかしら。[I wonder what Sachiko likes?]
あの人はだれかしら。[I wonder who that person is?]
WILD Examples:
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