Japanese pronouns

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Pronouns in the Japanese language are used less frequently than they would be in many other languages^[1], mainly because there is no grammatical requirement to explicitly mention the subject in a sentence. So, pronouns can seldom be translated from English to Japanese on a one-on-one basis.

Most of the Japanese pronouns are not pure: they have other meanings. In English the common pronouns have no other meaning: for example, "I", "you", and "they" have no use except as pronouns. But in Japanese the words used as pronouns have other meanings: for example, 私 means "private" or "personal"; 僕 means "manservant".

The words Japanese speakers use to refer to other people are part of the more encompassing system of Japanese honorifics and should be understood within that frame. The choice of pronoun will depend on the speaker's social status compared to the listener, the subject, and the objects of the statement.

As a general rule, the first person pronouns (e.g. watashi, 私) and second person pronouns (e.g. anata, 貴方) are avoided, especially in formal speech. In many sentences, when an English speaker would use the pronouns "I" and "you", they are omitted in Japanese. Personal pronouns can be left out when it is clear who the speaker is talking about.^[2]

When it is required to state the topic of the sentence for clarity, the particle wa (は) is used, but it is not required when the topic can be inferred from context. Also, there are frequently used verbs that can indicate the subject of the sentence in certain circumstances: for example, kureru (くれる) means "give", but in the sense of "somebody gives something to me or somebody very close to me"; while ageru (あげる) also means "give", but in the sense of "someone gives something to someone(usually not me)". Sentences consisting of a single adjective (often those ending in -shii) are often assumed to have the speaker as the subject. For example, the adjective sabishii alone can form a sentence meaning "I am lonely."

Thus, the first person pronoun is usually only used when the speaker wants to put a special stress on the fact that he is referring to himself, or if it is necessary to make it clear. In some situations it can be considered uncouth to refer to the listener (second person) by a pronoun. If it is required to state the second person explicitly, the listener's surname suffixed with -san or some other title (like "customer", "teacher", or "boss") is generally used.

Gender differences in spoken Japanese also bring about another challenge as men and women use different pronouns to refer to themselves. Social standing also determines how a person refers to themself, as well as how a person refers to the person they are talking to.

Contents 1 List of Japanese pronouns 2 Suffixes 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] List of Japanese pronouns

The following list is incomplete. There are numerous such pronoun forms that exist in Japanese, which vary by region, dialect, and so forth. This is a list of the most commonly used forms. "It" has no direct equivalent in Japanese.^[2]

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Level of speech	Gender	Notes
- I -
watashi	わたし	私	formal	both	わて wate in the Kansai dialect.
watakushi	わたくし	私	very formal	both	The most formal polite version.[3]
ware	われ	我	very formal	both
waga	わが	我が	very formal	both	Means "my" or "our". Used in speeches and formalities; 我が社 wagasha (our company) or 我が国 wagakuni (our country).
ore	おれ	俺	informal	men	Meaning "I". Frequently used by men.[4] It can be seen as rude depending on the situation. Establishes a sense of masculinity. Used with peers or those younger or of lesser status, indicating one's own status. Among close friends or family, its usage is a sign of familiarity rather than masculinity or superiority.
boku	ぼく	僕	informal	men and boys rarely women[5][3]	Also meaning "I". Used in giving a sense of casual deference, uses the same kanji for servant (僕shimobe), especially a male one, from a Sino-Japanese word.
washi	わし	儂		old men	Colloquial.
atai	あたい	私	very informal	women	Slang version of あたし atashi.[3]
atashi	あたし		informal	women	Often considered cute.[3] Rarely used in written language, but common in conversation, especially among younger women.
atakushi	あたくし		formal	women
uchi	うち	家	informal	mostly young girls	Means one's own. Often used in the Kansai and Kyūshū dialects. Uses the same kanji for house (家 uchi).
(own name)			informal	both	Used by small children, considered cute.
oira	おいら		informal	both	Similar to 俺, but more casual. May give off sense of more country bumpkin.
ora	おら			children	Considered cute, as a child's version of "ore." Also is a regional standard to use as "watashi"
- you (singular) -
(name and honorific)			formality depends on the honorific used	both
anata	あなた	貴方, 貴男, 貴女	formal/informal	both	The kanji is rarely used. It is not used as much, since, when speaking to someone directly, the name of the addressee is better.[2][4] Commonly used by women to address their husband or lover, in a way roughly equivalent to the English "dear".
anta	あんた		informal	both	Version of あなた anata.[3] Similar to omae. Often expresses anger or contempt towards a person. Generally seen as rude or uneducated. Used by old men who also use washi instead of watashi.
otaku	おたく	お宅, 御宅	formal, polite	both	Polite form of saying "your house", slang for obsessive hobbyist. It is distinguished by being written in hiragana or katakana. This is not a pronoun, but a colloquialism referring to the home or the family. Otaku/Otakku/Otaki/Otakki as slang is a noun referring to some type of geek/obsessive hobbyist.
omae	おまえ	お前	very informal	both	Used by men with more frequency,[4] but also used by women. Expresses contempt/anger, the speaker's higher status or age, or a very casual relationship among peers. Used with おれ ore.[4] Should never be said to elders.
temee, temae	てめえ, てまえ	手前	rude and confrontational[3]	mainly men	Temee, a version of temae, is more rude. Used when the speaker is very angry.
kisama	きさま	貴様	extremely hostile and rude[3]	mainly men	Historically very formal, but has developed in an ironic sense to show the speaker's extreme hostility / outrage towards the addressee.
kimi	きみ	君	informal	both	The kanji means lord (archaic). Generally used with 僕 boku.[4] The same kanji is used to write -kun[1]. It is informal to subordinates; can also be affectionate; formerly very polite. Sometimes rude or assuming when used with superiors, elders or strangers.[4]
on-sha	おんしゃ	御社	formal, used to the listener representing your company	both
ki-sha	きしゃ	貴社	formal, similar to "onsha"	both
- he / she -
ano kata	あのかた	あの方	very formal	both	Sometimes pronounced ano hou, but with the same kanji.
ano hito	あのひと	あの人	formal	both	Literally "that person".
yatsu	やつ	奴	informal	both	A thing (very informal), dude, guy.
aitsu	あいつ	彼奴	very informal, generally hostile	both	Expresses contempt towards the third party referred to. Analogous to "he/she". Similar: koitsu, "you". Soitsu is possible but rarely used.
- he -
kare	かれ	彼	formal (affectionate) and informal (usually neutral)	both	Can also mean boyfriend.
kareshi	かれし	彼氏	formal (neutral) and informal (boyfriend)	both	Can also mean lover.
- she -
kanojo	かのじょ	彼女	formal (neutral) and informal (girlfriend)	both	Can also mean lover.[2]
- we -
hei-sha	へいしゃ	弊社	formal and humble	both	Used when representing one's own company. From a Sino-Japanese word meaning "low company" or "humble company".
waga-sha	わがしゃ	我が社	formal, used when representing one's own company	both
- they -
kare-ra	かれら	彼等	common in spoken Japanese and writing	both
- notable others -
ware-ware	われわれ	我々	formal "we" sometimes "they"	both	Mostly used when speaking on behalf of a company or group.

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Meaning	Level of speech	Gender	Notes
- Archaic pronouns -
asshi	あっし		I		men	From the Edo period.
sessha	せっしゃ	拙者	I		men	Used by samurai in the Edo period. From a Sino-Japanese word meaning "one who is clumsy".
waga-hai	わがはい	我が輩,吾輩	I		both	Literally "my fellows; my class; my cohort", but used in a somewhat pompous manner as a first-person singular pronoun.
soregashi	それがし	某	I			Ancient form of "watakushi".
warawa	わらわ	妾	I			Ancient form of "watakushi".
yo	よ	余, 予	I		men	Archaic first-person singular pronoun.
nanji	なんじ	汝, less commonly also 爾	you, often translated as "thou"		both	Spelled as なむち namuti in the most ancient texts and later as なんち nanti or なんぢ nandi.
onushi	おぬし	御主			men	Used by samurai to talk to people of equal or lower rank. Literally means "master".
sonata	そなた	其方 (rarely used)	thou		both	Originally a mesial deictic pronoun meaning "that side; that way; that direction"; used as a lightly respectful second person pronoun in medieval times, but now used when speaking to an inferior in a pompous and old-fashioned tone.

[edit] Suffixes

Suffixes are added to pronouns,to make them plural.

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Level of speech	Gender	Notes
- we -
tachi	たち	達	informal. examples: 私達, watashi-tachi, あなた達, anata-tachi 彼女たち, kanojo-tachi 君たち, kimi-tachi	both	Makes the pronoun plural. watashi(I) becomes watashi-tachi(we)
kata or gata	がた	方	formal (ex. あなた方)	both	More polite than 達 tachi.
domo	ども	共	humble (ex. 私ども, watakushi-domo)	both	casts some dispersion on the mentioned group, so it can be rude
ra	ら	等	informal (彼らkarera 俺ら, ore-ra, 奴ら, yatsu-ra, あいつら, aitsu-ra)	both	Used with informal pronouns. Frequently used with hostile words (ex. お前ら, omae-ra).

[edit] See also

• Gender differences in spoken Japanese
• Japanese titles

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Japan Reference: Personal pronouns in Japanese
• The Japanese page.com: I, me, you, thou...
• Wikibooks.org - Japanese/Grammar/Pronouns
• sci.lang.japan wiki: Japanese pronouns