Japanese/Lessons/Personal pronouns
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[edit] Using personal pronouns
The Japanese language has many different ways to say "I" or "You". The one to choose depends on the social status, age, and sex of both speaker and listener, as well as the level of familiarity and respect between them. These forms have been evolving over time.
You must be aware that whatever personal pronoun is used (with one exception, noted below), it is rather rude to address other persons with "You." In formal situations the addressed person's name should be used instead, followed by an honorific, such as -san.
Note that female speech is usually more polite than male.
The most popular personal pronouns are given in the following table. Each row is combined of the pronouns of similar level of politeness. The rows are written starting with the most polite to the least.
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | question |
|---|---|---|---|
| わたくし | あなたさま | このかた; そのかた; あのかた | どのかた |
| わたし | あなた | このひと; そのひと; あのひと | どなた |
| ぼく (normally used by a man) | きみ | かれ; かのじょ | だれ |
| おれ (normally used by a man) | おまえ | こいつ; そいつ; あいつ | どいつ |
[edit] Widely used personal pronouns
Standard 1st person pronouns ("I"), starting from the most polite to the less:
- わたくし（私） - the most polite modern 1st person pronoun.
- われ（我） - quite humble and polite but old-fashioned (plural "われわれ" is used as humble way to talk about one's organization).
- わたし（私） - contraction of わたくし, a universal word that may be used in any situation. Most language courses advise to use only this pronoun.
- あたし - further contraction of わたし, used ONLY by women to sound cute/innocent.
- ぼく（僕） - mostly used by men (sometimes by women who want to sound tough), especially by boys and young males. This is the commonly polite word to use at semi-formal events and general conversations by young men. ぼく is also used as a poetic "I".
- じぶん（自分） - neutral pronoun that means "self" (not only "myself", this also can be used as a 2nd and 3rd person pronoun), used by military people and officials to indicate that they are part of a huge organization. May also mean "a person".
- おれ（俺） - informal. Used with a very casual group and/or to sound masculine.
- うち（家）- feminine and not polite
- ちん（朕）- only used by the emperor
- あたい - another contraction of わたくし, quite informal
- せっしゃ（拙者）- literally means "clumsy person," used by samurai
- わがはい（我輩）- a personal pronoun popularized by Natsume Souseki's "Wagahai Ha Neko de Aru"
Standard 2st person pronouns ("You"), starting from the most polite to the less:
- あなたさま（あなた様） - the most polite modern 1st person pronoun. Used when the politeness level demands using person's name, but you do not know it (still you must apologize for using this and ask for the name)
- あなた - a usual and polite word for addressing strangers. See notes about this word on the kosoado page (as this is actually a kosoado pronoun). Better avoid this word in cases other than addressing strangers, or at all.
- あんた - informal version of "あなた". Used mostly by women to address inferiors.
- きみ（君） - informal "You" used mostly by men, although starting to gain popularity among women. A person that uses "きみ", most likely uses "ぼく" as a 1st person pronoun. きみ is also used as a poetic "You".
- おまえ（お前） - quite rude and vulgar, sometimes used by older people. Literally means "front" ("you, in front of me"). A person that uses "おまえ", most likely uses "おれ" as a 1st person pronoun.
Standard 3rd person pronouns ("He"/"She"), starting from the most polite to the less:
- あのかた（あの方） - the most polite way of telling "he" or "she".
- あのひと（あの人） - quite polite.
- かれ（彼） - neutral and usual "He". Note: use with caution as this may also mean "boyfriend".
- かのじょ（彼女） - neutral and usual "She". Note: use with caution as this may also mean "girlfriend".
- やつ（奴） - rude, implies hatred.
[edit] Plural
In case of "われ", plural may be formed by doubling the pronoun, but most commonly plural is formed with suffixes, which by themselves also have a level of politeness. Consequently, the level of politeness of both pronoun and suffix must match (although there are usually two different suffixes may be applied in any particular case, so you may slightly vary the politeness level of the resulting pronoun). Here are the common suffixes from the most polite to the less polite:
- ~とも (for example, わたくしども; note that it is rather common for words in Japanese to change accent when used as affix, like in this example "と" is pronounced (and written) as "ど")
- ~かた (for example, あなたがた; the previus note applies here too)
- ~たち - quite polite and most commonly used plural maker (for example, わたしたち)
- ~ら (for example, ぼくら)
[edit] Additional personal pronouns
Additional 1st person pronouns in no particular order, not mandatory to learn:
- せっしゃ - humble and polite, used by samurai (rarely used as considered archaic).
- わし - mostly used by older people (perhaps, to indicate that they have grown old and wise).
- わ(が) - literary word derived from "わたくし". Used in the meaning of "my" or "our" (example: わがくに- my country).
- ちん - "I" or "We" used by kings.
- おのれ - humble, used by men (rarely used as considered archaic). Also means "you", but sounds arrogant and impolite when used that way.
- うち - used mostly by women when referring to "us" (family, company, etc.) or "I" that is a part of "us".
Additional 2nd person pronouns in no particular order, not mandatory to learn:
- てまえ or てめえ - rude and aggressive. Implies that you are ready to beat up that person.
- きさま - extremely rude and offensive. The most insulting way of saying "You" in Japanese. The actual kanji (貴様) meaning is "a valued and esteemed person". If you deeply hate a person (you want to kill him/her), you may say this.
- おぬし, おのし - humble and polite way to address people of equal or lower social status, although rather archaic (used by samurai).
