Structure
Phrase + かしら
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About かしら
Originally, かしら was an abbreviation of か知らぬ, or かしらん, which are both ways of expressing 'whether it's (A), I don't know'. These days, かしら is a standalone sentence ending particle that works in a similar way to かも, by expressing the speaker's uncertainty about the previous statement.
かしら may be attached to the end of almost any phrase that the speaker wants to express doubt about.
Caution
Although the original forms of か知らぬ, or かしらん were useable by anybody, かしら is thought to be very feminine in modern Japanese, and therefore is not often used by men.
Synonyms
Examples
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今日は雨が降るかしら。
I wonder if it will rain today.
すぐ冷房をつけてくれないかしら。
I wonder if they won't turn on the air conditioning for us soon.
ここで食べてもいいかしら。
I wonder if it is ok to eat here.
納豆は変な匂いがするから、食べれるかしら。
Since natto has a strange smell, I wonder if I will be able to eat it.
あまり理解出来ていないみたい。行けるかしら。
It appears that they don't really understand. I wonder if it will go well.
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Expressing “to Wonder”
Wasabi
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[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Page 48 & 181
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 206
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かしら – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (3 in total)
Brand_S
Quick question: how does かしら work with -ます form, if it’s compatible? I didn’t see any example sentences showing that?
nekoyama
In theory, it can be used with -ます or です in the same way as かな, just put it at the end. But both かしら and かな aren’t really used with people one needs to be polite with. In polite speech, it would be でしょうか instead.
In the forum post there’s still a “casual feminine speech” tag, somehow the “casual” part was lost when the grammar point got its new explanation.
Brand_S
Thanks! I didn’t see the word “casual” in the OP either; my bad!
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