Desu.

[guitarplayer7694]

When speaking japanese and you say desu the u is droped right, but what if you don't does this make a diffrent word or is it just an odd thing to do?

[chikara]

Do you mean desu?

Normally the u is not voiced although I have heard Japanese women speak who clearly voice the u in desu.

[guitarplayer7694]

chikara wrote:
Do you mean desu?

Normally the u is not voiced although I have heard Japanese women speak who clearly voice the u in desu.

Would it be o.k for a male to use the う, and same with -masu.

[TrashTreasurer]

Would it be o.k for a male to use the う, and same with -masu.

I guess it depends on your definition of O.K. If it helps, I watch far too much japanese television shows/anime, and play a lot of import video games with voice acting, and it seems that the males don't "drop" the u in desu, but rather "de-voice" it, kind of like turning the "u" into a whisper of sorts.

The only time I hear a full on "de-su" is females in certain circustances, like a little girl being cute or a woman trying to be respectful or talking to someone she really really respects. But of course, I don't live in japan. I'm 99 percent sure you'll be totally fine if you devoice that last u, I do it whenever I practice my speech out loud. It's reallly rare for me to actually hear a male completely voice that last "u", and I can't really recall what situation it was used in because of how rare and isolated it was.

[guitarplayer7694]

TrashTreasurer wrote:

Would it be o.k for a male to use the う, and same with -masu.

I guess it depends on your definition of O.K. If it helps, I watch far too much japanese television shows/anime, and play a lot of import video games with voice acting, and it seems that the males don't "drop" the u in desu, but rather "de-voice" it, kind of like turning the "u" into a whisper of sorts.

The only time I hear a full on "de-su" is females in certain circustances, like a little girl being cute or a woman trying to be respectful or talking to someone she really really respects. But of course, I don't live in japan. I'm 99 percent sure you'll be totally fine if you devoice that last u, I do it whenever I practice my speech out loud. It's reallly rare for me to actually hear a male completely voice that last "u", and I can't really recall what situation it was used in because of how rare and isolated it was.

What about -masu?

[Tesu]

I tend to voice it more when I'm trying to be polite .... thats about it.

[ess_jay_arr]

I'm male and I only voice that 'u' when I'm being sarcastic, as in 'Sore wa zennen desuuu...' or when I'm (jokingly/pretending to be) annoyed, like 'Iranai deSU!'

Not great examples, but do you get the idea? Not saying that's a 'correct' way to use it or anything, just my two cents.

[Shirasagi]

I would strongly, strongly urge you NOT to voice the final "u" in "desu/masu".

[Yudan Taiteki]

I agree, especially if you are a male. The only time I hear males do it is when speaking on the phone in a business context.

[two_heads_talking]

the only time i have ever heard males do it is when they are using ultra keigo. in other words when they are being ultra polite.

[miho-sempai]

So it's one of the things more common on the female side of conversation?