Pronouns
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Japanese has pronouns just like English, but they are not used very often, except for 私 （わたし watashi), 私達 (わたしたち watashitachi), and それ (sore). They mean "I", "we", "it", respectively.If you simply translate English pronouns while speaking Japanese, it sounds "Englishy" or bookish at best. And it could be worse: you may sound harsh and rude.So instead of using "you", "he", "she", "they" in Japanese, try referring to people by their names. If you don't know the names, you can say things like:
- 男の人 (おとこのひと otoko no hito) - the man
- 女の人 （おんなのひと onna no hito) - the woman
- その子供 （そのこども sono kodomo) - that child
- あの人 （あのひと ano hito) - that person over there
- その学生 （そのがくせい sono gakusee) - that student
- 友達 （ともだち tomodachi) - the friend
- 田中さんの友達 （たなかさんのともだち Tanaka san no tomodachi) - Mr./Ms. Tanaka's friend
- 先生 (せんせい sensee) - the teacher
- 田中さんのお母さん （たなかさんのおかあさん Tanaka san no okaasan) - Mr./Ms. Tanaka's mother
- 子供達 （こどもたち kodomotachi) - the children
etc.And don't forget, you can always drop subjects and objects in sentences when they are clear from the context. So there's no need to keep referring to people in every single sentence. This technique comes in handy when you are talking to a complete stranger, because you don't want to use the pronoun "you", and you can't referring to the person you are talking to by "this person" either!One final note. The pronouns "he" and "she" in Japanese ("kare" and "kanojo") are actually often used to specifically mean "boyfriend" and "girlfriend". So you may hear somebody say things like:- 私は彼がいます。（わたしはかれがいます。 Watashi wa kare ga imasu.) - I have a boyfriend.
- 田中さんの彼女を見ました。（たなかさんのかのじょをみました。 Tanaka san no kanojo o mimashita.) - I saw Mr.Tanaka's girlfriend.
- 私は彼女がほしいです。（わたしはかのじょがほしいです。Watashi wa kanojo ga hoshii desu.) - I want a girlfriend.
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Aren't their a few special pronouns in Japanese that mean I, but convey certain masculine or feminine characteristics? (I'm thinking of boku, watakushi, etc...)
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Yes, there are a few variations in the first person singular pronoun, I, in Japanese. Thanks for pointing it out!
- 私 (わたし watashi) is the most basic and neutral expression. It is used by both male and female speakers, and both in spoken and written Japanese.
- 私 (わたくし watakushi) is extra polite and formal. Note that the kanji character is the same as the one for the neutral "watashi"; it's only the matter of pronounciation. So if it's written, you can't tell the difference between "watashi" and "watakushi". You only get to hear "watakushi" when it's spoken. In fact, "watakushi" is not used very often. Even when you are in those situations where you want to be extra polite, at a job interview for example, the neutral "watashi" is good enough. So using "watakushi" is not really necessary at any occasions. I also feel like there is a little air of emphasis that the speaker is well-bred when somebody uses "watakushi".
- 僕 (ぼく boku) is the expression exclusively used by male speakers. Otherwise, it is pretty neutral, so you can use it pretty much at any occasions except in formal writing. In casual conversations, it's probably better to use "boku" rather than "watashi" if you are a male speaker. Using "watashi" may sound a little too formal or it could even sound too feminine in casual conversations.
- 俺 (おれ ore) is a rougher and more masculine version of "boku". Its use should be limited to casual conversations only.
- あたし (atashi) is a phonological variation of "watashi", and it's used only in casual spoken Japanese by female. It's kind of like how "going to" becomes "gonna" in English fast speech (although "gonna" is used by both male and female English speakers). You should never use "atashi" in writing except when the purpose of doing so is to accurately quote what was said.
As for the first person plural pronoun, we, there are also as many variations as the singular counterpart: 私達 (わたしたち watashitachi), 私達 (わたくしたち wataskushitachi), 僕達 (ぼくたち bokutachi), 俺達 (おれたち oretachi), あたし達 (あたしたち atashitachi).
"Bokutachi", for example, doesn't have to refer to a group consisting of only men. The person who says "bokutachi" has to be a male person, but the group can be a mix of both male and female. The same principle applies to all the other first person plural pronouns.
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Thanks! That's really interesting.
