9

I sometimes hear or read sentences such as:

  1. 行かないでよね!
  2. 聞かないでよね!

I get 「行かないでね!」and 「行かないでよ!」 but I wonder what nuance is added when both of them are used like in these examples.

I have the feeling that these are often used by young girls but I am not sure. Can it be used by men too?

1 Answer 1

6

It's basically the same as (imperative +) よ, i.e. request when the listener doesn't seem to share the same recognition as the speaker when you doubt that the opponent does it.

In falling tone*1, it stands for complaint as well as よ, and extra ね softens it, sort of.

(*1 Edit: I wrote "falling tone" because of similarity to falling よ, but I should have written it as "lower intonation" or so. This ね pronounced lower than that of the below, but it can be still higher than the preceding よ per se. So, it's actually not "falling".)

In rising tone*2, it sounds more imploring than simple (imperative +) よ?, which prompts attention to not forget about it.

(*2 This "rising tone" means that ね is pronounced higher than よ. If you further pronounce ね itself in sharp falling tone, it functions as (imperative +) よ with interjection ね, and the result is roughly the same.)

And, now that you mention it, it could sound a little too wimpy for men to use, though I think it depends on people, after all.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .