Japanese pronouns

Japanese pronouns are words in the Japanese language used to address or refer to present people or things, where present means people or things that can be pointed at. The position of things (far away, nearby) and their role in the current interaction (goods, addresser, addressee, bystander) are features of the meaning of those words. The use of pronouns, especially when referring to oneself and speaking in the first person, vary between gender, formality, dialect and region where Japanese is spoken.

Use and etymology

In contrast to present people and things, absent people and things can be referred to by naming; for example, by instantiating a class, "the house" (in a context where there is only one house) and presenting things in relation to the present, named and sui generis people or things can be "I'm going home", "I'm going to Hayao's place", "I'm going to the mayor's place", "I'm going to my mother's place" or "I'm going to my mother's friend's place". Functionally, deictic classifiers not only indicate that the referenced person or thing has a spatial position or an interactional role but also classify it to some extent. In addition, Japanese pronouns are restricted by a situation type (register): who is talking to whom about what and through which medium (spoken or written, staged or in private). In that sense, when a male is talking to his male friends, the pronoun set that is available to him is different from those available when a man of the same age talks to his wife and, vice versa, when a woman talks to her husband. These variations in pronoun availability are determined by the register.

In linguistics, generativists and other structuralists suggest that the Japanese language does not have pronouns as such, since, unlike pronouns in most other languages that have them, these words are syntactically and morphologically identical to nouns.^[1][2] As functionalists point out, however, these words function as personal references, demonstratives, and reflexives, just as pronouns do in other languages.^[3][4]

Japanese has a large number of pronouns, differing in use by formality, gender, age, and relative social status of speaker and audience. Further, pronouns are an open class, with existing nouns being used as new pronouns with some frequency. This is ongoing; a recent example is jibun (自分, self), which is now used by some young men as a casual first-person pronoun.

Pronouns are used less frequently in the Japanese language than in many other languages,^[5] mainly because there is no grammatical requirement to include the subject in a sentence. That means that pronouns can seldom be translated from English to Japanese on a one-to-one basis.

The common English personal pronouns, such as "I", "you", and "they", have no other meanings or connotations. However, most Japanese personal pronouns do. Consider for example two words corresponding to the English pronoun "I": 私 (watashi) also means "private" or "personal". 僕 (boku) carries a masculine impression; it is typically used by males, especially those in their youth.^[6]

Japanese words that refer to other people are part of the encompassing system of honorific speech and should be understood within that context. Pronoun choice depends on the speaker's social status (as compared to the listener's) as well as the sentence's subjects and objects.

The first-person pronouns (e.g., watashi, 私) and second-person pronouns (e.g., anata, 貴方) are used in formal contexts (however the latter can be considered rude). In many sentences, pronouns that mean "I" and "you" are omitted in Japanese when the meaning is still clear.^[3]

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 imply the subject and/or indirect object of the sentence in certain contexts: kureru (くれる) means "give" in the sense that "somebody other than me gives something to me or to somebody very close to me." Ageru (あげる) also means "give", but in the sense that "someone gives something to someone other than me." This often makes pronouns unnecessary, as they can be inferred from context.

In Japanese, a speaker may only directly express their own emotions, as they cannot know the true mental state of anyone else. Thus, in sentences comprising a single adjective (often those ending in -shii), it is often assumed that the speaker is the subject. For example, the adjective sabishii (寂しい) can represent a complete sentence that means "I am lonely." When speaking of another person's feelings or emotions, sabishisō (寂しそう) "seems lonely" would be used instead. Similarly, neko ga hoshii (猫が欲しい) "I want a cat," as opposed to neko wo hoshigatte iru (猫を欲しがっている) "seems to want a cat," when referring to others.^[7] Thus, the first-person pronoun is usually not used unless the speaker wants to put a special stress on the fact that they are referring to themselves or if it is necessary to make it clear.

In some contexts, it may be considered uncouth to refer to the listener (second person) by a pronoun. If it is required to state the second person, 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 create another challenge, as men and women refer to themselves with different pronouns. Social standing also determines how people refer to themselves, as well as how they refer to other people.

Japanese first-person pronouns by speakers and situations according to Yuko Saegusa, Concerning the First Personal Pronoun of Native Japanese Speakers (2009)

First-person pronouns by elementary school pupils (2008)

Speaker	Situation	1	2	3
Female	To friends	uchi 49%	First name 26%	atashi 15%
	In the family	First name 33%	atashi 29%	uchi 23%
	In a class	watashi 86%	atashi 7%	uchi 6%
	To an unknown visitor	watashi 75%	atashi, first name, uchi 8% each
	To the class teacher	watashi 66%	First name 13%	atashi 9%
Male	To friends	ore 72%	boku 19%	First name 4%
	In the family	ore 62%	boku 23%	uchi 6%
	In a class	boku 85%	ore 13%	First name, nickname 1% each
	To an unknown visitor	boku 64%	ore 26%	First name 4%
	To the class teacher	boku 67%	ore 27%	First name 3%

First-person pronouns by university students (2009)

Speaker	Situation	1	2	3
Female	To friends	uchi 39%	atashi 30%	watashi 22%
	In the family	atashi 28%	First name 27%	uchi 18%
	In a class	watashi 89%	atashi 7%	jibun 3%
	To an unknown visitor	watashi 81%	atashi 10%	jibun 6%
	To the class teacher	watashi 77%	atashi 17%	jibun 7%
Male	To friends	ore 87%	uchi 4%	watashi, jibun 2% each
	In the family	ore 88%	boku, jibun 5% each
	In a class	watashi 48%	jibun 28%	boku 22%
	To an unknown visitor	boku 36%	jibun 29%	watashi 22%
	To the class teacher	jibun 38%	boku 29%	watashi 22%

List of Japanese personal pronouns

The list is incomplete, as there are numerous Japanese pronoun forms, which vary by region and dialect. This is a list of the most commonly used forms. "It" has no direct equivalent in Japanese^[3] (though in some contexts the demonstrative pronoun それ (sore) is translatable as "it"). Also, Japanese does not generally inflect by case, so, I is equivalent to me.

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Level of speech	Gender	Notes
– I/me –
watashi	わたし	私	formal/informal	both	In formal or polite contexts, this is gender neutral; in casual speech, it is typically only used by women. Use by men in casual contexts may be perceived as stiff.
watakushi	わたくし	私	very formal	both	The most formal personal pronoun. Outdated curriculums did not provide for any other kind of pronoun in everyday speech for foreigners, except for watakushi.^[8] However, in modern student books, such a pronoun has been withdrawn from use.^[9]
ware	われ	我, 吾	very formal	both	Used in literary style writing. Also used as rude second person in western dialects.
waga	わが	我が	very formal	both	Means "my" or "our". Used in speeches and formalities; 我が社 waga-sha (our company) or 我が国 waga-kuni (our country).
ore	おれ	俺	informal	males	Frequently used by men.^[10] Establishes a sense of "masculinity". Can be seen as rude depending on the context. Emphasises one's own status when used with peers and with those who are younger or of lesser status. Among close friends or family, its use conveys familiarity rather than "masculinity" or superiority. It was used also by women until the late Edo period and still is in some dialects. Also oi in Kyushu dialect.
boku	ぼく	僕	formal/informal	males	Used by males of all ages; very often used by boys; can be used by females but then carries tomboyish or feminist connotations. Perceived as humble, but can also carry an undertone of "feeling young" when used by males of older age. Also used when casually giving deference; "servant" uses the same kanji (僕 shimobe). Can also be used as a second-person pronoun toward male children (English equivalent – "kid" or "squirt").
washi	わし	儂	formal/informal	mainly males	Often used in western dialects and fictional settings to stereotypically represent characters of old age. Also wai, a slang version of washi in the Kansai dialect.
jibun	じぶん	自分	neutral	mainly males	Literally "oneself"; used as either reflexive or personal pronoun. Can convey a sense of distance when used in the latter way. Also used as casual second person pronoun in the Kansai dialect.
ore-sama	おれさま	俺様	informal	mainly (fictional) males	"My esteemed self", "Mr. I". Used in fiction by very self-important or arrogant characters,^[11] or humorously.
atai	あたい	私	very informal	females	Slang version of あたし atashi.^[12]
atashi	あたし	私	informal	females (but see notes)	A feminine pronoun that strains from わたし ("watashi"). Rarely used in written language, but common in conversation, especially among younger women. It was formerly used by male members of the merchant and artisan classes in the Edo area and continues to be used by male rakugo performers.
atakushi	あたくし	私	informal	females	A feminine pronoun that strains from わたくし ("watakushi").
uchi	うち	家, 内	informal	mostly females	Means "one's own". Often used in western dialects especially the Kansai dialect. Generally written in kana. Plural form uchi-ra is used by both genders. Singular form is also used by both sexes when talking about the household, e.g., "uchi no neko" ("my/our cat"), "uchi no chichi-oya" ("my father"); also used in less formal business speech to mean "our company", e.g., "uchi wa sandai no rekkāsha ga aru" ("we (our company) have three tow-trucks").
(own name)			informal	both	Used by small children and young women; considered cute and childish.
oira	おいら	俺等, 己等	informal	males	Similar to 俺 ore, but more casual. Evokes a person with a rural background, a "country bumpkin".
ora	おら	俺等	informal	both	Dialect in Kanto and further north. Similar to おいら oira, but more rural. Also ura in some dialects.
wate	わて		informal	all	Dated Kansai dialect. Also ate (somewhat feminine).
shōsei	しょうせい	小生	formal, written	males	Used among academic colleagues. Lit. "your pupil".^[13]
– 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 are very rarely used. The only second person pronoun comparable to English "you", yet still not used as often in this universal way by native speakers, as it can be considered having a condescending undertone, especially towards superiors.^[3]^[10]^[better source needed] For expressing "you" in formal contexts, using the person's name with an honorific is more typical. More commonly, anata may be used when having no information about the addressed person; also often used as "you" in commercials, when not referring to a particular person. Furthermore, commonly used by women to address their husband or lover, in a way roughly equivalent to the English "dear".
anta	あんた	貴方	informal	both	Contraction of あなた anata.^[12] Can express contempt, anger or familiarity towards a person. Generally seen as rude or uneducated when used in formal contexts.
otaku	おたく	お宅, 御宅	formal, polite	both	A polite way of saying "your house", also used as a pronoun to address a person with slight sense of distance. Otaku/otakki/ota turned into a slang term referring to a type of geek/obsessive hobbyist, as they often addressed each other as otaku.
omae	おまえ	お前	very informal	both	Similar to anta, but used by men with more frequency.^[10] Expresses the speaker's higher status or age, or a very casual relationship among peers. Often used with おれ ore.^[10] Very rude if said to elders. Commonly used by men to address their wife or lover, paralleling the female use of "anata".
temē, temae	てめえ, てまえ	手前	rude and confrontational^[12]	mainly males	Literal meaning "the one in front of my hand". Temē, a reduction of temae, is more rude. Used when the speaker is very angry. Originally used for a humble first person. The Kanji are seldom used with this meaning, as unrelated to its use as a pronoun, 手前 can also mean "before", "this side", "one's standpoint" or "one's appearance".
kisama	きさま	貴様	extremely hostile and rude	mainly males	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) and is also used to write -kun.^[14] Informal to subordinates; can also be affectionate; formerly very polite. Among peers typically used with 僕 boku.^[10] Often seen as rude or assuming when used with superiors, elders or strangers.^[10]
kika	きか	貴下	informal, to a younger person	both
kikan	きかん	貴官	very formal, used to address government officials, military personnel, etc.	both
on-sha	おんしゃ	御社	formal, used to the listener representing your company	both	Only used in spoken language.
ki-sha	きしゃ	貴社	formal, similar to onsha	both	Only used in written language as opposed to onsha.
– he / she –
ano kata	あのかた	あの方	very formal	both	Sometimes pronounced ano hou, but with the same kanji. 方 means "direction," and is more formal by avoiding referring to the actual person in question.
ano hito	あのひと	あの人	neutral	both	Literally "that person".
yatsu	やつ	奴	informal	both	A thing (very informal), dude, guy.
koitsu, koyatsu	こいつ, こやつ	此奴	very informal, implies contempt	both	Denotes a person or material nearby the speaker. Analogous to "he/she" or "this one".
soitsu, soyatsu	そいつ, そやつ	其奴	very informal, implies contempt	both	Denotes a person or material nearby the listener. Analogous to "he/she" or "that one".
aitsu, ayatsu	あいつ, あやつ	彼奴	very informal, implies contempt	both	Denotes a person or (less frequently) material far from both the speaker and the listener. Analogous to "he/she" or "that one".
– he –
kare	かれ	彼	formal (neutral) and informal (boyfriend)	both	Can also mean "boyfriend". Formerly 彼氏 kareshi was its equivalent, but this now always means "boyfriend".^[citation needed] Literally meaning "that one", in classical Japanese it could mean "he", "she", or "it".^[15]
– she –
kanojo	かのじょ	彼女	formal (neutral) and informal (girlfriend)	both	Originally created in the 19th century as an equivalent to female pronouns in European languages. Initially pronounced kano onna, it literally means "that female".^[16] Can also mean "girlfriend".^[17]
– we (see also list of pluralising suffixes, below) –
ware-ware	われわれ	我々	formal	both	Mostly used when speaking on behalf of a company or group.
ware-ra	われら	我等	informal	both	Used in literary style. ware is never used with -tachi.
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	both	Used when representing one's own company.
– they (see also list of pluralising suffixes, below) –
kare-ra	かれら	彼等	common in spoken Japanese and writing	both

Archaic personal pronouns

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Meaning	Level of speech	Gender	Notes
asshi	あっし	私	I		males	Slang version of watashi. From the Edo period.
sessha	せっしゃ	拙者	I		males	Used by samurai during the feudal ages (and often also by ninja in fictionalised portrayals). From a Sino-Japanese word meaning "one who is clumsy".
wagahai	わがはい	我が輩, 吾輩	I		males	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		males	Literally "So-and-so", a nameless expression. Similar to sessha.
warawa	わらわ	妾	I		females	Literally "child". Mainly used by women in samurai families. Today, it is used in fictional settings to represent archaic noble female characters.
wachiki	わちき		I		females	Used by geisha and oiran in Edo period. Also あちき achiki and わっち wacchi.
yo	よ	余, 予	I		males	Archaic first-person singular pronoun.
chin	ちん	朕	We		both	Used only by the Emperor, mostly before World War II.
maro	まろ	麻呂, 麿	I		males	Used as a universal first-person pronoun in ancient times. Today, it is used in fictional settings to represent Court noble male characters.
onore	おのれ	己	I or you		males	The word onore, as well as the kanji used to transcribe it, literally means "oneself". It is humble when used as a first person pronoun and hostile (on the level of てめえ temee or てまえ temae) when used as a second person pronoun.
kei	けい	卿	you		males	Second person pronoun, used mostly by males. Used among peers to denote light respect, and by a superior addressing his subjects and retainers in a familiar manner. Like 君 kimi, this can also be used as an honorific (pronounced as きょう kyou), in which case it's equivalent to "lord/lady" or "sir/dame".
nanji	なんじ	汝, less commonly also 爾	you, often translated as "thou"		both	Spelled as なむち namuchi in the most ancient texts and later as なんち nanchi or なんぢ nanji.
onushi	おぬし	御主, お主	you		both	Used by elders and samurai to talk to people of equal or lower rank. Literally means "master".
sonata	そなた	其方 (rarely used)	you		both	Originally a mesial deictic pronoun meaning "that side; that way; that direction"; used as a lightly respectful second person pronoun in previous eras, but now used when speaking to an inferior in a pompous and old-fashioned tone.
sochi	そち	其方 (rarely used)	you		both	Similar to そなた sonata. Literally means "that way". (Sochira and kochira, sometimes shortened to sotchi and kotchi, are still sometimes used to mean roughly "you" and "I, we", e.g. kochira koso in response to thanks or an apology means literally "this side is the one" but idiomatically "no, I (or we) thank/apologise to you"; especially common on the telephone, analogous to phrases like "on this end" and "on your end" in English. Kochira koso is often translated as "me/us, too" or "likewise" – it is certainly a reciprocation gesture, but sometimes a little more.)

Suffixes

Suffixes are added to pronouns to make them plural.

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Level of speech	Notes
tachi	たち	達	informal; examples: 僕達, boku-tachi 私達, watashi-tachi あなた達, anata-tachi 君達, kimi-tachi	Also can be attached to names to indicate that person and the group they are with (Ryuichi-tachi = "Ryuichi and friends").
kata, gata	かた, がた	方	formal (ex. あなた方, anata-gata)	More polite than 達 tachi. gata is the rendaku form.
domo	ども	共	humble (ex. 私ども, watakushi-domo)	Casts some aspersion on the mentioned group, so it can be rude. domo is the rendaku form.
ra	ら	等	informal (ex. 彼ら, karera. 俺ら, ore-ra. 奴ら, yatsu-ra. あいつら, aitsu-ra)	Used with informal pronouns. Frequently used with hostile words. Sometimes used for light humble as domo (ex. 私ら, watashi-ra).

Demonstrative and interrogative pronouns

Demonstrative words, whether functioning as pronouns, adjectives or adverbs, fall into four groups. Words beginning with ko- indicate something close to the speaker (so-called proximal demonstratives). Those beginning with so- indicate separation from the speaker or closeness to the listener (medial), while those beginning with a- indicate greater distance (distal). Interrogative words, used in questions, begin with do-.^[3]

Demonstratives are normally written in hiragana.

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Meaning
kore	これ	此れ	this thing / these things (near speaker)
sore	それ	其れ	that thing / those things (near listener)
are	あれ	彼れ	that thing / those things (distant from both speaker and listener)
dore	どれ	何れ	which thing(s)?
kochira or kotchi	こちら / こっち	此方	this / here (near speaker)
sochira or sotchi	そちら / そっち	其方	that / there (near listener)
achira or atchi	あちら / あっち	彼方	that / there (distant from both speaker and listener)
dochira or dotchi	どちら / どっち	何方	what / where

For more forms, see Japanese demonstratives on Wiktionary.

Other interrogative pronouns include 何 なに nani "what?" and 誰 だれ dare "who(m)?".

Reflexive

Japanese has only one word corresponding to reflexive pronouns such as myself, yourself, or themselves in English. The word 自分 (jibun) means "one's self" and may be used for human beings or some animals. It is not used for cold-blooded animals or inanimate objects.^{[3][better source needed]}

See also

• Gender differences in spoken Japanese
• Japanese honorifics

References

1. Noguchi, Tohru (1997). "Two types of pronouns and variable binding". Language. 73 (4): 770–797. doi:10.1353/lan.1997.0021. S2CID 143722779.
2. Kanaya, Takehiro (2002). 日本語に主語はいらない Nihongo ni shugo wa iranai [In Japanese subjects are not needed]. Kodansha.
3. Akiyama, Nobuo; Akiyama, Carol (2002). Japanese Grammar. Barron's Educational. ISBN 0764120611.
4. Ishiyama, Osamu (2008). Diachronic Perspectives on Personal Pronouns in Japanese (Ph.D.). State University of New York at Buffalo.
5. Maynard, Senko K: "An Introduction to Japanese Grammar and Communication Strategies", page 45. The Japan Times, 4th edition, 1993. ISBN 4-7890-0542-9
6. "The many ways to say "I" in Japanese | nihonshock". nihonshock.com. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
7. Hatasa, Yukiko Abe; Hatasa, Kazumi; Makino, Seiichi (2014). Nakama 1: Japanese Communication Culture Context. Cengage Learning. p. 314. ISBN 9781285981451.
8. Nechaeva L.T. «Japanese for beginners», 2001, publishing house «Moscow Lyceum», ISBN 5-7611-0291-9
9. Maidonova S.V. «Complete Japanese course», 2009, Publishing house «Astrel», ISBN 978-5-17-100807-9
10. 8.1. Pronouns 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine sf.airnet.ne.jp Retrieved on October 21, 2007
11. Maynard, Senko K. (2016). Fluid orality in the discourse of Japanese popular culture. Amsterdam. p. 226. ISBN 978-90-272-6713-9. OCLC 944246641.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
12. Personal pronouns in Japanese Japan Reference. Retrieved on October 21, 2007
13. "Language Log » Japanese first person pronouns". languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu.
14. "old boy". Kanjidict.com. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
15. Haruo Shirane (2005) Classical Japanese: A Grammar. Columbia University Press. p. 256
16. "彼女とは".
17. "he". Kanjidict.com. Retrieved 7 May 2012.

External links

 

Look up Category:Japanese pronouns in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Japan Reference: Personal pronouns in Japanese
• sci.lang.japan FAQ: Japanese pronouns