わa sentence ending: casual, or feminine
At the end of a sentence there are two わ, told apart by the voice. Low and falling, it is casual, and anyone says it. Soft and rising, it is the わ of women's speech: today mostly older women, and women in fiction.
How to form it
Plain form + わ
帰るわ, 疲れたわ, 寒いわ. A noun or a な-adjective keeps だ: 無理だわ, きれいだわ.
The soft one with ね or よ
Plain form + わね／わよ
Low and falling: casual
In a low, falling voice, often drawn out, わ lets the other person know what you have just decided, or how something strikes you, lightly and half to yourself. Men and women both say it all over Japan, and in Kansai it is everyday speech. With friends, you can say it too.
I'm off to bed.
I'm worn out today.
That's just not possible.
Soft and rising: women's speech
In a soft, rising voice, わ is women's speech: today mostly older women, and female characters in novels, anime and dubbed films. わね and わよ belong to this one. You need to recognize it, not to say it.
It's cold today, isn't it?
Hurry. You'll be late.
Which one is it?
The words don't tell you. The voice does: 先に帰るわ with a lift at the end is the feminine one.
Close neighbours
よN5
Hands the other person something they don't know yet, after the soft わ too.
It's already seven, you know.
わ～わN1
Said twice, わ piles things up with feeling. Anyone says it.
Oh, the people. They were everywhere. I stood in line at the register for thirty minutes.
Check yourself
1A young man is leaving a party. Which is he likely to say?
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which one is right?
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
The other feminine endings drop だ: きれいね, きれいよ. Before わ it stays: きれいだわ.
After です or ます, the soft one is how a refined lady talks in fiction: そうですわ.