Japanese pronouns Totally Explained

Everything about Japanese Pronouns totally explained

Pronouns in the Japanese language are used less frequently than they'd be in many other languages, mainly because there's 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've 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 (for example watashi, 私) and second person pronouns (for example anata, 貴方) are avoided, especially in formal speech. In many sentences, when an English speaker would use the pronouns "I" and "you", they're omitted in Japanese. Personal pronouns can be left out when it's clear who the speaker is talking about. |- |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. 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. 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 isn't 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, 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. Should never be said to elders. |- |temee, temae |てめえ, てまえ |手前 |rude and confrontational |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 |mainly men |Historically very formal. |- |kimi |きみ |君 |informal |both |The kanji means lord (archaic). Generally used with 僕 boku. The same kanji is used to write -kun(External Link

) |- ! colspan=6 |
- 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 | |- ! colspan=6 |
- they - |- |kare-ra |かれら |彼等 |common in spoken Japanese and writing |both | |- ! colspan=6 |
- 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	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	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.

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).

Further Information

Get more info on 'Japanese Pronouns'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://japanese_pronouns.totallyexplained.com">Japanese pronouns Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.