Vianime

What are pronouns? Pronouns are expressions such as “I” “you” “he” that refer to others in the place of names or titles. You’ve probably heard of anata and watashi. But there are a lot more.

Japanese pronouns are perhaps one of the most intriguing and challenging aspects of the language.

Intriguing in the sense that there are so many choices. No longer is it just “you” and “me.” Instead you’re presented with a host of maybe a dozen ways of referring to yourself, and another dozen to refer to the person with you. (Relax – you really only need to know about 4 from each “set.” The rest are for those with insatiable cravings for Japanese language.)

Challenging in the sense that picking out the differences between the pronouns can be tricky. The nuances of each word are not at all obvious to inexperienced learners.

Common 1st-Person Pronouns (“I/Me”)

romaji	kanji	hiragana	formality	gender	brief notes on usage
watashi	私	わたし	formal	neutral	standard for girls; for guys, when speaking “publicly”; can sound mysterious/private
watakushi	私	わたくし	very formal	neutral	excessively formal; not very common
boku	僕	ぼく	informal	male	standard for younger males; sounds childish or “Mr. Nice Guy”
ore	俺	おれ	informal	male	common for adolescent-adult males; only used when around familiars; can sound rude/rough
atashi	none	あたし	informal	female	for girls who want to appear spunky, cute; lends “personality”; used around familiars

Common 2nd-Person Pronouns (“You”)

romaji	kanji	hiragana	formality	brief notes on usage
anata	貴方	あなた	formal	standard, polite; can also mean “dear” when used by wife to husband
anta	none	あんた	informal	contraction of anata; sounds somewhat rude, careless, or uneducated
kimi	君	きみ	informal	familiar but friendly; commonly used towards those of same age group or younger
omae (omee, omaesan)	お前	おまえ	very informal	very familiar; used mostly by guys among friends; never used towards superiors
kisama	貴様	きさま	very rude	extremely harsh and hostile; used with enemies or rivals (“Who do you think you are?!”)
temae (temee)	手前	てめえ	very rude	confrontational; possibly the rudest pronoun; often used during a fight (“Asshole! Bastard!”)

Common 3rd-Person Pronouns (“He/She/They”)

romaji	kanji	hiragana	formality	brief notes on usage
kare	彼	かれ	neutral	“he”; can also mean, very informally, “boyfriend”
kanojo	彼女	かのじょ	neutral	“she”; can also mean, very informally, “girlfriend”
koitsu /soitsu /aitsu	此奴 其奴 彼奴	こいつ そいつ あいつ	very informal	All words mean “he/she/it” koitsu: near speaker (“this one”) soitsu: near speaker (“that one”) aitsu: far from speaker (“that one”) A vulgar way of referring to others
yatsu	奴	やつ	informal	“guy”; very casual way of speaking; rarely used to refer to females

For (much) more detail, consult the following pages:

First-Person Pronouns
watashi, boku, ore, atashi

Second-Person Pronouns
anata, anta, kimi, omae, kisama, temee

Third-Person Pronouns
kare, kanojo, koitsu/soitsu/aitsu, yatsu

First-Person Pronoun Reference List

romaji	kanji	hiragana	formality	gender	brief notes on usage
watashi	私	わたし	formal	neutral	standard for girls; business-like/mysterious for guys
watakushi	私	わたくし	very formal	neutral	excessively formal; not very common
boku	僕	ぼく	informal	male	standard for younger boys; sounds childish or “Mr. Nice Guy”
ore	俺	おれ	informal	male	for guys who want to appear tough, self-sufficient; often rude
atashi	none	あたし	informal	female	for girls who want to appear spunky, cute; lends “personality”

(Note that I/me is the same in Japanese. At least there’s one distinction you won’t have to worry about!)

This is far from a complete list of all the possible pronouns, but really, it’s about 99.9% of what you’ll hear in common real life speech, and maybe a slightly lesser figure (98%?) of anime speech.

Below I will be covering the usage of the common 1st-Person Pronouns, minus watakushi because it’s not really quite as common as the others.

WATASHI

anime/manga usage	“real life” usage	If you want to use watashi…
The standard for girls. Guys that use watashi are either old, professional types, or deliberately formal. The literal meaning of the kanji for watashi is “private,” and those that use it (esp. guys) often have a private, mysterious and/or even treacherous character. It often implies that one is hiding one’s identity.	Common in many situations, especially professional/public ones. Girls almost always use it. However, I expect that almost no man would refer to himself this way in front of friends/family/etc.	If you’re a girl, no problem. It’s pretty much your only real choice anyway. If you’re a guy, I should probably warn you, using watashi in a non-public context can make you sound awkward or even feminine. If you’re not sure, it’s best not to refer to yourself at all (hahaha…). I am serious though.

Notable Characters who use watashi…

Roy of Fullmetal Alchemist	L of Death Note	Byakuya Kuchiki of Bleach

BOKU

anime/manga usage	“real life” usage	If you want to use boku…
The standard for younger boys, basically all those that are school age. For boys up to about high school age, boku is the most common. After that, those who continue to use boku are considered either a.) childish, immature; b.) good-mannered, “Mr Nice Guy”; c.) feminine, shy, incompetent. There are a very few cases of females using boku, though it does happen (in most cases they’re disguising as a boy or confused about their gender).	I’d say boku is fairly common in both men and boys, even adult males. I’ve heard guys in their 30’s or above referring to themselves as boku. It seems to just be a “youthful habit” that’s hard to shake, and the word feels safe and familiar for guys to use, even in semi-professional contexts. It’s definitely an informal pronoun to use, though not rude. Just gives off a more personal air.	I think in most situations it would actually sound best for a male to use boku, especially if he is younger and doesn’t mind sounding a bit immature. It’s a casual way of speaking that most males find very comfortable to use.

Notable Characters who use boku…

Alphonse Elric of Fullmetal Alchemist	Light Yagami of Death Note	Kino of Kino’s Journey

ORE

anime/manga usage	“real life” usage	If you want to use ore…
Basically any guy who wants to appear tough in some way uses ore. It’s a way of saying “Don’t mess with me.” Usually you’ll hear guys who are of high school age or older using it, but occasionally some really over-confident boys use it at a much younger age.	I don’t think ore is that common except among groups of guys together. Sure, guys might refer to themselves as ore around their girlfriends, but I doubt that they would act that way in front of females (or males) they don’t know very well.	Most likely not a good idea. ore should be used by those who know the language well and/or already have close Japanese friends. It is an offensive manner of speaking in general, and it will also make you look ridiculous unless you know what you’re doing.

Notable Characters who use ore…

Edward Elric of Fullmetal Alchemist	Ritsuka of Loveless	Ichigo Kurosaki of Bleach

ATASHI

anime/manga usage	“real life” usage	If you want to use atashi…
Many girls in anime use this word. Basically any girl who has some serious “personality” or maybe just wants to appear extra cute and young, will use atashi. In contrast, those females who don’t (at least in anime) are seen as a.) more mature; b.) more conservative/”goody-two-shoes”; c.) more stuffy	I find it hard to determine how many girls use this in real life because watashi and atashi are hard to tell apart. It’s definitely only used in informal contexts, as between girlfriends.	Honestly, the difference between watashi and atashi is so minor that I don’t see why you would really want to “switch.” But if you’re a girl, and you’ve got some close friends you’re speaking to, then it’s the right word. atashi is casual but not rude. It gives you some “personality.”

Notable Characters who use atashi…

Winry Rockbell of Fullmetal Alchemist	Misa Amane of Death Note	Alice of Pandora Hearts

Second-Person Pronoun Reference List

romaji	kanji	hiragana	formality	brief notes on usage
anata	貴方	あなた	formal	polite, respectful; can also mean “dear” when used by wife to husband
anta	none	あんた	informal	somewhat rude; implies superiority of speaker and/or slight hostility to other
kimi	君	きみ	informal	not as rude, but very familiar; always used by those older/same age
omae	お前	おまえ	very informal	familiar and/or very disrespectful; implies superiority of speaker
kisama	貴様	きさま	very rude	extremely hostile; often shouted out to mean “you bastard!”
temee	手前	てめえ	very rude	confrontational; often used during a fight

This is far from a complete list of all the possible pronouns, but really, it’s about 99.9% of what you’ll hear in common real life speech, and maybe a slightly lesser figure (98%?) of anime speech.

Below I will be covering the usage of the common 2^nd-Person Pronouns.

ANATA

Other than simply referring to the other person by name, title, or other non-pronoun referent (which is always the preferred way in Japanese), anata is the most polite way possible to address someone using a pronoun. Still, it’s surprisingly infrequent to hear (especially in anime – no one’s polite in anime!)

Some examples of where this might be used include:

- wife addressing husband (“dear”), or other situations between couples

- adult addressing child in a loving manner (“dear”)

- younger person adressing an older one when the name/title is not known or is not appropriate to be said

- other situations where one wishes to be polite but cannot use a name/title

Often used in conjunction with watashi.

ANTA

Though derived from anata, this is definitely not to be confused with anata. anta is actually quite rude or familiar and sometimes can make one sound uneducated. Just think of the attitude of one who uses this word as being “I’m too lazy/you’re not good enough for me to say the full anata.”

Commonly heard:

- used by girls somewhat more often than by guys

- if a young person wants to disrespectfully refer to an older one, anta is often used

- when a character dislikes someone or is a bit hostile towards them, yet doesn’t have the guts to call them a really bad name

Often used in conjunction with atashi or ore.

KIMI

Personally, one of my favourite pronouns. kimi has a kindly air to it, one that can be friendly and personal, caring and parental, or even romantic. It is very familiar. It is never used by a younger/lower-ranking person to address an older/higher-ranking person. Only those “superior” (or equal) in some way can use kimi. However, it’s definitely not hostile.

This word uses the same kanji as the suffix –kun and has somewhat the same feeling.

Commonly heard:

- parental sort of figure towards children/youths

- superiors (including military officers) towards subordinates

- young person towards other young people (roughly the same age or younger)

Often used in conjunction with boku,though also used with all other pronouns.

OMAE

A rough, rude, very familiar feeling to this word. Though it is certainly not a “curse” as the following two words are, calling someone omae could start a fight if you don’t know that person really well (and even if you do). Used by itself, it’s often translated as, “Hey, you.” Often, among two guys (or a guy and a girl) who are very close, omae is used constantly by one of them (sometimes both) to refer to the other without any hurt feelings at all.

Commonly heard:

- used more often by guys than girls

- adolescent/young adult guys towards each other or extremely familiar girls

- tough or superior person (could be a female) referring to someone they see as weaker, inferior, not as capable as them

- parental figure referring (quite harshly) to child/youth

- even animals can be referred to this way

Often used in conjunction with ore.

TWO “BAD” WORDS: KISAMA & TEMEE

KISAMA

Original meaning was not rude at all. Actually it was formal and even very polite. However, somehow the original meaning has been twisted such that this word is now only used to express feelings of extreme hostility or anger.

Commonly heard:

- often shouted out on its own, just prior to charging at the other person in rage

- when someone has severely betrayed one’s trust, done something extremely treacherous, or otherwise earns the speaker’s serious contempt

- in some situations, used regularly to indicate that the other person is not worthy of any trust or respect (especially if the speaker is very haughty/superior/noble/etc)

TEMEE

Actually, the correct word is temae. I have chosen not to mention this until now, however, since I have never once in my years of studying the language ever come across an instance where temae was used. temee is simply a variant way of saying this word in the “tough” style of speech where all ae or ai sounds are made into ee sounds.

This word does not have the heavy “I am superior to you” connotations of kisama, but it is equally if not more rude and offensive. This is literally the word to use to start a fight instantly. In order to understand its full effect, I would suggest that it be translated as “I’m gonna kill you!” or “You wanna die?” in most contexts.

Commonly heard:

- often shouted out on its own, just prior to charging at the other person in rage

- pretty much always used by men, tough guys