Japanese Expressions & Vocabs (1)
Disclaimer:
I’m currently self-studying Japanese for the JLPT and for improving my fluency and proficiency in general so I’m making notes from textbooks that I’m learning from. I will cite the textbook at the end of the post if you’re interested.
Pronouns
First person (”I”)
- 私（わたくし）watakushi (very formal)
- 私（わたし）watashi (polite)
- 僕（ぼく）boku (plain/used by men)
- 俺（おれ）ore (rough/used by men)
Second person (”you”) (singular)
- (n/a for very formal) -> it’s common to not use second person pronouns when addressing someone, especially in very formal situation. The format NAME-san is commonly used.
- あなた anata (polite)
- 君（きみ）kimi (plain/used by men)
- お前（おまえ）omae (rough/used by men)
Third person - may be used in almost any situation, formal or informal. However, should not be used in reference to social superiors or young children. あの人（あのひと）ano hito can also be used to mean he or she; might carry a negative nuance.
- 彼 (かれ）kare (=he)
-彼女（かのじょ）kanojo (=she)
Plural forms of personal pronouns, add suffix -tachi or -ra
- watashi => watashi-tachi (or watashi-ra)
- boku => boku-tachi (or bokura)
- kimi => kimi-tachi (or kimira)
* kare => karera (or, less frequently, kare-tachi)
- kanojo => kanojo-tachi (or kanojora)
* anata => use suffix -gata for politeness = anata-gata
The suffix -tachi and -gata may also be added to certain nouns: gakusei-tachi (=students), sensei-gata (=teachers), etc.
Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication (A self-study course and reference) by Taeko Kamiya
