particle N5 essential casualpolite
よ — asserting / informing (~, you know)
よ
Meaning
- ~, you know / I'm telling you ~ — presents the statement as news or a point the listener may not have
よ flags the sentence as information the listener lacks. Depending on tone it can be helpful (knock-knock, 落ちたよ) or pushy (違うよ), so it lands harder than a bare statement.
Key sentence
電車が来たよ。
The train's here!
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| End of a sentence | … + よ | 行くよ / 大丈夫ですよ |
Examples
その映画、面白いよ。
That movie's good, you know.
鍵を忘れているよ。
You're forgetting your keys (I'm telling you).
心配しなくても大丈夫だよ。
It's fine, you don't need to worry.
Easily confused with
Notes
- Combined as よね, they soften an assertion into 'right?': 明日だよね = 'it's tomorrow, isn't it?' — you assert but still invite confirmation.
See よ in real sentences
Jengo shows よ the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.