particle N4 common casual

かしら — sentence-final 'I wonder ~'

かしら

Meaning

I wonder ~ — a soft, self-directed question; distinctly feminine in modern speech

かしら is the feminine counterpart of かな: same musing-to-oneself function, but it marks the speaker as female (or, in fiction, an older woman). Men essentially never use it. Like かな, a negative form turns it into a wish or a soft request hint.

Key sentence

これでいいかしら。

I wonder if this is okay.

Formation

Attaches to	Form	Example
Plain form / noun / na-adjective (no だ on noun・na-adj)	… plain + かしら	来くるかしら / 大丈夫だいじょうぶかしら

Examples

彼女かのじょ、今日きょう来くるかしら。

I wonder if she's coming today.

どこに置おいたかしら。

Now where did I put it, I wonder.

ちょっと手伝てつだってくれないかしら。

I wonder if you'd give me a hand (could you?).

Easily confused with

〜かな Identical 'I wonder' meaning; かな is gender-neutral and far more common, while かしら is specifically feminine and a touch old-fashioned.

Notes

ないかしら after a verb softens a request: 来きてくれないかしら ≈ 'might you come?' — politer and gentler than a direct ask.

See かしら in real sentences

Jengo shows かしら the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.

Study it in Jengo

Sources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar, A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar.

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