I, Me, You, Thou...
Submitted by clay on Tue, 07/17/2007 - 9:27pm.
| THE MANY I'S |
- 私 watashi - the safest most common 'I' usage: *****
- 私 watakushi - more formal (same kanji)
- あたし atashi - used by women (same kanji)
- あたくし atakushi - ditto (same kanji)
- 僕 boku - used by men; less formal. (it uses the same kanji as ' servant 僕 shimobe ) usage: *****
- 俺 ore - can be seen as rude, but used by men often usage: *****
- わし washi - used by old men ojiisan - If you are young, say this and see what your Japanese friends say! Fun!
- あっし asshi - from Edo period until now; used by men
- てまえ temae - used by the merchant class in the Edo period; very humble
- 拙者 sessha - used by samurai in Edo period; humble
- おら ora - used by children and Crayon Shin-chan; cute!
- うら ura - used by men in Fukui prefecture
- 我が輩 wagahai - An older form of 'I.'
Usage: 吾輩は猫である wagahai wa neko de aru - I am a Cat (novel by Natsume Soseki) - 我が waga - means 'my.' Used in speeches and formalities
- 我 ware - Another form of 'wa' series. It means 'I'. Often heard as 我々 ware ware meaning 'we'
- うち uchi - used by women and Osaka dialect
- 某 soregashi - used by samurai in the Edo Period (not used now)
| THE MANY YOU'S |
- 貴方 anata - the safest most common 'You' (Usually written in Hiragana (no kanji)) usage: *****
- 君 kimi - usually said to people lower than [or equal to] you socially <Submitted by Lindsay>
- そなた sonata - archaic
- 貴様 kisama - a rude, most foul 'You' (if you notice both あなた and きさま have the same first kanji. This kanji means 'nobility' but today it has a rude feel to it. BE CAREFUL WITH THIS!
- 己 onore - Very rude. Used during fights. This is an interesting word as it can actually mean 'you' AND 'I.' The 'I' meaning is used mainly in literature and is not rude. But be careful with the 'you' usage! <Submitted by Ghislain Cottat>
- お前 omae - used as an insult during fights or as a sign of affection by older couples. hmmm. It isn't too rude, but has a ting to it
- なんじ nanji - you, thou (old word) - the kanji is 汝
- あんた anta - you (Don't say this to your elders!) Usually said to people 'lower' than you. For example older sister to little brother
- 貴下 kika - you (to a younger person)
- お主 onushi - you - In the manga YAIBA, Musashi Miyamoto and Kojirou Sasaki use お主 (おぬし) when referring to people in the second person. It must be a samurai thing. (submitted by hihlordjp)
It's often best to use a persons name instead of a pronoun in Japanese. Please check out 敬称 Name Titles
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Is there any way to say
Is there any way to say "you," that's super nice and honorable? Like if you're talking to your boss, or someone who's very important, maybe like some famous super star? You wouldn't just use "anata," would you? It seems like there are more ways to degrade someone by saying "you" a certain way than anything else.
Well...
Well...to me it seems that you wouldn't want to use any form of "you." Instead, use the person's name with a title. Say, さん or さま.
Generally speaking, you want to shy away from pronouns in Japanese because of the alternative meanings to pronouns.
I figured that might be the
I figured that might be the case. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any other way. =D
Thanks!
Can't you use "jibun no" or
Can't you use "jibun no" or "jibun wa" for yourself too?
~~~
(>X_x)>
Its not just for "yourself".
Its not just for "yourself". It can mean: myself, yourself, himself, yourselves and so forth.
"One's self" is the common meaning given to it when introduced as new vocabulary. But you are the one to interpret the meaning of it as "yourself," "myself," etc. from sentences, context, and what-not.
自分
To my understanding, 自分「じぶん」 is "oneself" or "ones"
As in "Know oneself" or "It's best to know ones weaknesses."
You beat me.
Haha you beat me to it. I take too long to write posts :3
K.I.S.S
Keep It Short & Sweet ^_^
Or is it Keep It Simple Stupid? O.o; lol
About "using Anata"...
Yes, it is true that using the word "Anata" too much sounds a little rude. I'm saying this because I've seen an Anime where a 5-yr girl was chided for using the word "anata" to refer to her brother. The subtitle read like "Anata? Who taught you that word, Yuzyuu-chan?"
Overusing "私” and "あなた”
It's important to remember that overuse of "私” (watashi) or any other "I" words can make you look self centered when speaking Japanese. In Japanese it is quite alright for a sentence to have no stated subject, so it is much better to omit "I" in sentences where the subject is self evident.
ex. The sentence "私の母はとても優しいです” (watashi no haha wa totemo yasashii desu) means "My mother is very kind," but so does "母はとても優しいです” (haha wa totemo yasashii desu). In this case the word used for mother indicates that it is your mother, and not somebody else's.
It is also important to remember that using "あなた” (anata) or other "you" pronouns can feel pointed or rude in Japanese. It is much better to use the name of the person you are speaking to, even though this would not make sense in English.
ex. If you are speaking to a person named Tanaka, then the sentence "田中さんは元気ですか” (tanaka san wa genki desu ka) is translated "How are you" and not as "How is Tanaka."
Also, in sentences where the subject is obviously the person you are talking to you can omit the subject, just like in sentences where you are talking about yourself.
ex. The sentences "田中さんのお母さんは優しいです” (tanaka san no okaasan wa yasashii desu) and "お母さんは優しいです” (okaasan wa yasashii desu) both mean "Your mother is kind" because the word for mother used indicates that it is not your own mother to whom you are referring.
VERY unnecessary
I think I will use anata because are we really expected to learn all these different ways to say "you"? Anata will do just fine. And also Watashi will do just fine.
Actually,
Yes, you are required to know most of the "I's and You's". Aside from a few rare or archaic things here, most of these are used every day. The rest are used commonly in media.
Besides, in the thousands of words you're going to have to learn, what's 7 or 8 more?
At first
At first, no. But over time, yes.
lets study lol.
lets study lol.