Japanese Lesson 24: Yo

The first year or so that you listen to Japanese you will basically be able to catch the first word in the sentence and the last word in the sentence and everything in between will probably be indecipherable. You will probably hear the word "yo" よ a lot. Yo is a tag at the end of a sentence that expresses friendliness, certainty or to emphasize what you are saying. The closest translation to English is: "I'm telling you", or "yeah"

A: 明日何をする？
あした　なに　を　する？
What are you going to do tomorrow?

B: 明日、仕事に行くよ
あした　しごと　に　いく　よ
I am going to go to work tomorrow.
(I'm telling you) I'm going to work tomorrow (same as always!).
(Yeah) I'm going to go to work tomorrow.

A: レストランまで歩く？
れすとらん　まで　あるく？
Are you going to walk to the restaurant?
B: うん、歩くよ
うん、あるく　よ
Yeah, I'm going to walk.
(I'm telling you!)I'm going to walk.

Other examples:

痛いよ！
いたい　よ
That hurts!
(I'm telling you!)that hurts!

A: 明日、一緒にビーチに行く？
あした　いっしょ　に　びーち　に　いく？
Shall we go to the beach together tomorrow?

B: 良いよ
いい　よ
okay!
(yeah)that (sounds) good!

B: 明日、天気が良いよ。行こう！
あした　てんき　が　よい　よ。　いこう
The weather is going to be nice tomorrow. Let's go!
The weather is going to be nice tomorrow (I'm telling you). Let's go!