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Japanese personal pronouns

created by Jeeves

(idea) by Jeeves (5.5 y) (print)   ?   (I like it!) 2 C!s Fri Jun 30 2000 at 20:26:38

Japanese pronouns are frequently omitted in speech -- context makes clear who or what is being referred to. Personal pronouns do not change for case. That said, the basic list of personal pronouns is as follows:
watakushi
"I" or "me". Often contracted to watashi; or atashi (women only).
Plural form is wata(ku)shitachi, which indicates "we" or "us".
boku
Also means "I" or "me". More casual than watashi or watakushi. Used mostly (but not exclusively) by men and boys.
Plural: bokura or bokutachi.
anata
Translates to "you". Rarely used, compared with English. The name, position, or title of the person being referred to is usually used instead.
Plural: anatatachi or anatagata
kimi
Also means "you". It is more casual than anata. As for whether this pronoun is actually used much (compared to anata) in colloquial speech, I don't know.
kare
"He" or "him". The title, position, or name of the person referred to is usually preferred.
Plural: karera, "they" (masculine or mixed).
kanojo
"She" or "her". Again, title, position, or name is usually preferred over this pronoun.
Plural: kanojotachi, referring to a group of females.
ano hito
Often used for "he", "she", or to mean "that person" (the literal meaning). This is more common than the previous two pronouns for referring to a third person.
Plural: ano hitobito or ano hitotachi, which indicates "they" or "those people".

(idea) by Myrmidion (9.8 mon) (print)   ?   (I like it!) 2 C!s Thu Dec 21 2000 at 5:25:41

Jeeves has also left out:

ore: A "crude" form of "I". Usually found in colloquial male speech.

In more formal speech, prepositions like kochira (this direction), sochira (that direction), achira (that direction over there) is used for this person, that person, and that person over there respectively.

A plainer form of this usage is koitsu, soitsu, aitsu. Note: this usage is extremely impolite! You are neither referring to the person by name, pronoun, or title. A more literary form of "I" is ware which is pluralised irregularly with ware-ware. Similar to this is "waga" which is sometimes written with the same kanji. You may see it in keigo, e.g. waga sha, our company.

Also, the pluralising particle "ra" is also found commonly in colloquial speech, e.g. bokura, orera.

Another word for kare is kareshi, slightly more formal but similar in meaning.

With ano hito, ano kata is often heard. Kata is substituted as a respectful form (sonkeigo) of hito. E.g. ano kata wa, go-shoukai shite moraimasen ka.

After reading this for the third time, I realise that there are many, many other pronouns. A partial list follows:

Words for "I"
Asshi - contraction of watashi
atai - as above
akushi
chin - Used only by the Emperor!
sessha - used by samurai
shousei
jibun
kochitora
uchi
oira
oresama
wa
wagahai
wai
warawa
washi
temae

Words for "you"
These are literary
kidai
kikun
kiden
imashi
kikou
kitan
kisou
kirei
ommi
sokotomo
sora
soko
wadono
yo
Also
onushi - samurai speech
sonata
wagakimi
otaku
kisama - This is sometimes rude, but soldiers refer to each other as kisama, and it's found in poems too
temae - also used for I


(idea) by LadyMacbeth (2.2 y) (print)   ?   (I like it!) Sat Mar 19 2005 at 2:42:21

kare can also mean boyfriend.

kanojo can also mean girlfriend.

If you want to talk about the person with whom X is in a relationship, you can say X no kare/kanojo to mean X's boyfriend/girlfriend.

atashi can be used by males, but using it is akin to saying "I am homosexual!"

teme is the rudest form of "you." This can be translated as "you bastard" and is generally not to be used unless you're looking for a fight.


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