ရိုမဂျိဟိရဂနခန်ဂျိLevel of speechGenderNotes – I/me –watashiわたし私formal/informalbothIn formal or polite contexts, this is gender neutral; in casual speech, it is typically only used by women. Use by men in casual context may be perceived as either stiff or feminine.watakushiわたくし私very formalbothThe most formal personal pronoun.Personal pronouns in Japanese Japan Reference. Retrieved on October 21, 2007wareわれ我, 吾very formalbothUsed in literary style. Also used as rude second person in western dialects.wagaわが我がvery formalbothMeans "my" or "our". Used in speeches and formalities; 我が社 waga-sha (our company) or 我が国 waga-kuni (our country).おれ俺informalmalesFrequently used by men. Establishes a sense of masculinity. Can be seen as rude depending on the context. Emphasizes 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 by both genders until the late Edo period and still is in some dialects. Also oi in Kyushu dialect.ぼく僕formal/informalmalesUsed by males of all ages; very often used by boys. 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/informalmainly malesOften 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formal/informalmainly malesLiterally "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.ataiあたいvery informalfemalesSlang version of あたし atashi.atashiあたしinformalfemales, rarely males (Edo dialect)A feminine pronoun that strains from わたし ("watashi"). Rarely used in written language, but common in conversation, especially among younger women. atakushiあたくしinformalfemalesuchiうち家, 内informalmostly 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) informalbothUsed by small children and young women, considered cute and childish.おいら informalmalesSimilar to 俺 ore, but more casual. Evokes a person with a rural background, a "country bumpkin".おらinformalbothDialect in Kanto and further north. Similar to おいら oira, but more rural. Famous as used by main characters in Dragon Ball and Crayon Shin-chan among children. Also ura in some dialects.wateわてinformalbothDated Kansai dialect. Also ate (somewhat feminine).shōseiしょうせい小生formal, writtenmalesUsed among academic colleagues. Lit. "your pupil". – you (singular) –(name and honorific)formality depends on the honorific usedbothanataあなた貴方, 貴男, 貴女formal/informalbothThe 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.8.1. Pronouns sf.airnet.ne.jp Retrieved on October 21, 2007 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informalbothContraction of あなた anata. 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, politebothA 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 informalboth (masculine)Similar to anta, but used by men with more frequency. Expresses the speaker's higher status or age, or a very casual relationship among peers. Often used with おれ ore. 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 confrontationalmainly malesLiteral 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 rudemainly malesHistorically very formal, but has developed in an ironic sense to show the speaker's extreme hostility / outrage towards the addressee.kimiきみ君informalbothThe kanji means "lord" (archaic) and is also used to write -kun. Informal to subordinates; can also be affectionate; formerly very polite. Among peers typically used with 僕 boku. Often seen as rude or assuming when used with superiors, elders or strangers.kikaきか貴下informal, to a younger personbothkikanきかん貴官very formal, used to address government officials, military personnel, etc.bothon-shaおんしゃ御社formal, used to the listener representing your companybothonly used in spoken language.ki-shaきしゃ貴社formal, similar to onshabothonly used in written language as opposed to onsha – he / she –ano kataあのかたあの方very formalbothSometimes 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formal/informalbothLiterally "that person".yatsuやつ奴informalbothA thing (very informal), dude, guy.koitsu, koyatsuこいつ, こやつ此奴very informal, implies contemptbothDenotes 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 contemptbothDenotes 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 contemptbothDenotes 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)bothCan also mean "boyfriend". Formerly 彼氏 kareshi was its equivalent, but this now always means "boyfriend". – she –kanojoかのじょ彼女formal (neutral) and informal (girlfriend)bothOriginally created from 彼の女 kano on'na "that female" as an equivalent to female pronouns in European languages. Can also mean "girlfriend". – we (see also list of pluralising suffixes, below) –ware-wareわれわれ我々formalbothMostly used when speaking on behalf of a company or group.ware-raわれら我等informalbothUsed in literary style. ware is never used with -tachi.hei-shaへいしゃ弊社formal and humblebothUsed 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formalbothUsed 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 writingboth Archaic personal pronouns RomajiHiraganaKanjiMeaningLevel of speechGenderNotesasshiあっし私ImalesSlang version of watashi. From the Edo period.sesshaせっしゃ拙者ImalesUsed by samurai during the feudal ages (and often also by ninja in fictionalized portrayals). From a Sino-Japanese word meaning "one who is clumsy".wagahaiわがはい我が輩, 吾輩ImalesLiterally "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ImalesLiterally "So-and-so", a nameless expression. Similar to sessha.warawaわらわ妾IfemalesLiterally "child". Mainly used by women in samurai family. Today, it is used in fictional settings to represent archaic noble female characters.wachikiわちきIfemalesUsed by geisha and oiran in Edo period. Also あちき achiki and わっち watchi.yoよ余, 予ImalesArchaic first-person singular pronoun.chinちん朕Imales Used only by the emperor, mostly before World War II.maroまろ麻呂, 麿ImalesUsed 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 youmalesThe 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 youmalesSecond 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 a 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"bothSpelled 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youbothUsed by elders and samurai to talk to people of equal or lower rank, as well as by fictional ninja. Literally means "master".sonataそなた其方 (rarely used)youbothOriginally 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)youbothSimilar 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/apologize to you"; especially common on the telephone, analogous to phrases like "on this end" and "on your end" in English.) ကိုးကား Category:ဂျပန်ဘာသာစကား။