Pronouns in Japanese

Level A1

Pronouns in Japanese

Japanese has words for "I", "you", "he" and "she", but you'll hear them far less than in English: most of the time the subject is simply left out. "I" itself comes in several forms: 私 (watashi) is neutral and polite, 僕 (boku) is a casual word mostly used by men and boys, and 俺 (ore) is a rougher one men use with friends. Politeness comes mostly from the end of the sentence rather than from the word for "you": です (desu) and ます (masu) in polite speech, the plain form with friends. Each line in this lesson is marked with its style.

The eight pronouns — useful to know, often left out

  • 私(わたし)I
  • あなたyou
  • 彼(かれ)he
  • 彼女(かのじょ)she
  • それit
  • 私(わたし)たちwe
  • あなたたちyou
  • 彼(かれ)らthey

The pronoun chart: the ways to say "I", and plurals with たち (tachi) or ら (ra)

SingularPlural
私(わたし)・僕・俺私(わたし)たち・僕たち・俺たち
あなたあなたたち・みんな
彼(かれ)彼(かれ)ら
彼女(かのじょ)彼女たち
それそれら

Starting a sentence with pronoun + は (wa): 彼女は (kanojo wa), "she"

彼女はパリに住んでいます。

No subject needed — and no empty "it"

Japanese leaves the subject out whenever the situation makes it clear, much more often than English does: 疲れた (tsukareta) is "I'm tired", and 近所の人たちです (kinjo no hito-tachi desu) is "They're my neighbours". The verb doesn't change for "I", "you" or "they", so the context does all the work. There's no empty "it" either: 雨が降っています (ame ga futte imasu), "It's raining", is literally "rain is falling". For a thing, Japanese can use それ (sore), "that": それはちょっと高すぎますね (sore wa chotto takasugimasu ne), "It's too expensive", but just as often it says nothing: テーブルの上にありますよ (tēburu no ue ni arimasu yo), "It's on the table".

彼 (kare) and 彼女 (kanojo) are used much less than "he" and "she", and they also mean "boyfriend" and "girlfriend": あの子、レオの彼女？ (ano ko, Reo no kanojo?) means "Is she Leo's girlfriend?". To point someone out, say あの人 (ano hito), "that person": あの人は誰？ (ano hito wa dare?), "Who's that?"

Saying "you" without あなた

あなた (anata) is the word for "you" in textbooks, but people rarely say it, and to someone whose name you know it can sound distant or even rude. As in the introductions lesson, use the person's name with さん (san): すみません、田中さんですか？ (sumimasen, Tanaka-san desu ka?) is "Excuse me, are you Mr. Tanaka?". Even more often, there's no "you" at all: 大丈夫？ (daijōbu?) is simply "Are you okay?"

Most of the politeness is in the verb ending, not in a word for "you". To a stranger or a customer you use です (desu) and ます (masu), as in 何かお手伝いしましょうか？ (nanika o-tetsudai shimashō ka?); to a friend you use the plain form: ちょっと手伝ってくれる？ (chotto tetsudatte kureru?).

Talking to a group: みんな and 二人とも

あなたたち (anata-tachi) is the plural "you", but it's as rare as あなた. Where English says "you all" or "you guys", Japanese says みんな (minna), "everyone": みんな、準備できた？ (minna, junbi dekita?) is "Are you all ready?". To two people, say 二人とも (futari tomo), "both of you": 二人とも、コーヒー飲む？ (futari tomo, kōhī nomu?)

Meeting a new neighbour: polite です and ます, and そちらは instead of "you"

At a party: あの人 and あの子 instead of "he" and "she"

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