Mr. Lerner and his colleagues were talking about what they would like to do
during the summer. Mr. Tanaka said that he would like to go to Hokkaido,
and Miss Yoshida agreed, saying
(I also would like to go there.) There are several particles that are added to the end of sentences to show the speaker’s emotion or attitude. Ne is used when the speaker expects the listener to agree; yo is used when the speaker wants to emphasize his statement. The particle na expresses the speaker’s emotions in a monologue-like statement.
Since na expresses one’s emotion directly, it can be used only in familiar conversation or when talking to oneself. Men often use it at the end of a sentence in familiar conversation, but women usually use it before …to omou (I think that…) rather than at the end of a sentence even in familiar conversation. Women use na at the end of a sentence when talking to themselves or thinking aloud. They, as well as men, will say to themselves when getting up on a Monday morning, for instance:
(Oh, I’m so sleepy. How I wish I could sleep some more.) Sentences like …na to omoimasu can be used in polite speech by both men and women. Miss Yoshida used this when she could have said ikitai to omoimasu. By adding na she expressed her emotions more vividly. It sounds more lively to add na as in
(I thought this was interresting and investigate it.)
Donna hito to kekkon shitai na to omoimasu ka. |