Pronouns are used less frequently in the Japanese language

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

than in many other languages, mainly because there is no grammatical requirement

Pro-drop language

A pro-drop language is a language in which certain classes of pronouns may be omitted when they are in some sense pragmatically inferable...

 to include the subject in a sentence. So, pronouns can seldomly be translated from English to Japanese on a one-on-one basis.

The common, English pronouns, such as "I", "you", and "they", have no other meanings. However, most Japanese pronouns have other meanings. For example, of two pronouns that mean "I", (watashi) also means "private" or "personal"; and 僕 (boku) also means "manservant".

The words that Japanese speakers use to refer to other people are part of the encompassing system of honorific speech and should be understood within that context. The choice of pronoun will depend upon the speaker's social status (as compared to the listener's), as well as the subject(s) and the object(s) of the sentence.

The first-person pronouns (e.g. watashi, 私) and second-person pronouns (e.g. anata, 貴方) are used in formal contexts. In many sentences, pronouns that mean "I" and "you" are omitted in Japanese. Personal pronouns can be omitted when it is clear who the speaker is talking about.

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 can indicate the subject of the sentence in certain contexts: for example, kureru (くれる) means "give" in the sense that "somebody 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." 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."

Thus, the first-person pronoun is usually only used when the speaker wants to put a special stress on the fact that he is referring to himself, 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

Gender differences in spoken Japanese

The Japanese language is unusual among major languages in the high degree to which the speech of women collectively differs from that of men. Differences in the ways that girls and boys use language have been detected in children as young as three years old ....

 also create another challenge as men and women use different pronouns to refer to themselves. Social standing also determines how a person refers to him- or herself, as well as how a person refers to the person he or she is talking to.

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. Note that "it" has no direct equivalent in Japanese. Note, also, that Japanese doesn't generally inflect

Inflection

In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...

 by case, so, I is equivalent to me.

Romaji	Hiragana Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...	Kanji Kanji Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...	Level of speech	Gender	Notes
– me –
watashi	わたし	私	formal	both	Also わて wate in the Kansai dialect. In formal or polite contexts, this is gender neutral, but, when used in informal or casual contexts, it is usually perceived as feminine.
watakushi	わたくし	私	very formal	both	The most formal polite form.
ware	われ	我	very formal	both
waga	わが	我が	very formal	both	Means "my" or "our". Used in speeches and formalities; 我が社 wagasha (our company) or 我が国 wagakuni (our country).
ore	おれ	俺	informal	males, rarely females (boyish)	Meaning "I". Frequently used by men. It can be seen as rude depending on the context. Establishes a sense of masculinity. Emphasizes one's own status when used with peers and with those who are younger or who have less status. Among close friends or family, its use is a sign of familiarity rather than of masculinity or of superiority. Also おい oi in the Kyushu dialect.
boku	ぼく	僕	informal	males and rarely females (boyish)	Also means "I". Used when casually giving deference; "servant" uses the same kanji. (僕 shimobe), especially a male one, from a Sino-Japanese word. Can also be used toward children. (English equivalent – "kid" or "squirt".)
washi	わし	儂		males	Colloquial. Often used in western dialects and fictional settings to stereotypically represent old male characters.
atai	あたい		very informal	females, rarely males (girlish)	Slang version of あたし atashi.
atashi	あたし		informal	females, rarely males (girlish)	Often considered cute. Rarely used in written language, but common in conversation, especially among younger women.
atakushi	あたくし		informal	females
uchi	うち	家, 内	informal	mostly young girls	Means "one's own". Often used in the Kansai Kansai The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, and Shiga. Depending on who makes the distinction, Fukui, Tokushima and even Tottori Prefecture are also included...  and Kyūshū Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....  dialects. Uses the same kanji as "house" (家 uchi).
(own name)			informal	both	Used by small children and young women, considered cute.
oira	おいら		informal	both	Similar to 俺, but more casual. May give off sense of more country bumpkin.
ora	おら			both	Dialect in Kanto and further north. Gives off sense of country bumpkin. Used among children influenced by main characters in Dragon Ball Dragon Ball is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...  and Crayon Shin-chan Crayon Shin-chan is a Japanese manga and anime series written by Yoshito Usui.Crayon Shin-chan follows the adventures of five-year-old Shinnosuke "Shin" Nohara and his parents, baby sister, neighbors, and friends and is set in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.... .
– you (singular Grammatical number In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions .... ) –
(name and honorific Japanese titles The Japanese language uses a broad array of honorific suffixes for addressing or referring to people, for example -san, as in Daniel-san. These honorifics are gender-neutral , though some are more used for men or women and can be attached to first names as well as... )			formality depends on the honorific used	both
anata	あなた	貴方, 貴男, 貴女	formal/informal	both	The kanji is rarely used. It is not used as much, since, when speaking to someone directly, the name of the addressee is better. Commonly used by women to address their husband or lover, in a way roughly equivalent to the English "dear".
anta	あんた		informal	both	Version of あなた anata. Similar to omae. Often expresses contempt or familiar towards a person. Generally seen as rude or uneducated.
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/otakku/otaki/otakki turned into a slang term referring to a type of geek/obsessive hobbyist Otaku is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun... , as they often addressed each other as otaku.
omae	おまえ	お前	very informal	both	Used by men with more frequency, but also used by women. Expresses contempt/anger, the speaker's higher status or age, or a very casual relationship among peers. Used with おれ ore. Should never be said to elders.
temee, temae	てめえ, てまえ	手前	rude and confrontational	mainly males	Temee, a version of temae, is more rude. Used when the speaker is very angry.
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). Generally used with 僕 boku. The same kanji Kanji Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...  is used to write -kun. It is informal to subordinates; can also be affectionate; formerly very polite. Sometimes rude or assuming when used with superiors, elders or strangers.
kika	きか	貴下	informal, to a younger person	both
on-sha	おんしゃ	御社	formal, used to the listener representing your company	both
ki-sha	きしゃ	貴社	formal, similar to onsha	both
– he / she –
ano kata	あのかた	あの方	very formal	both	Sometimes pronounced ano hou, but with the same kanji.
ano hito	あのひと	あの人	formal/informal	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 "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", "it" or "this/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".
– she –
kanojo	かのじょ	彼女	formal (neutral) and informal (girlfriend)	both	彼の ("that") 女("female"). Originally created 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	formal	both	Mostly used when speaking on behalf of a company or group.
hei-sha	へいしゃ	弊社	formal and humble, used when representing one's own company	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, used when representing one's own company	both
– 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 Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...	Kanji Kanji Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...	Meaning	Level of speech	Gender	Notes
asshi	あっし		I		males	From the feudal ages.
sessha	せっしゃ	拙者	I		males	Used by ninja and samurai during the feudal ages. From a Sino-Japanese word meaning "one who is clumsy".
waga-hai	わがはい	我が輩,吾輩	I		both	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		both	Ancient form of "watakushi".
warawa	わらわ	妾	I		both	Ancient form of "watakushi".
yo	よ	余, 予	I		males	Archaic first-person singular pronoun.
chin	ちん	朕	I		males	Used only by the emperor, mostly before World War II.
adakado	あだかど	仇家人	I		males	Used as a humble term, literally for one's house, but usually for the person
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 when used as a second person pronoun.
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			males	Used by ninja and samurai to talk to people of equal or lower rank. Literally means "master".
sonata	そなた	其方 (rarely used)	thou		both	Originally a mesial deictic pronoun meaning "that side; that way; that direction"; used as a lightly respectful second person pronoun in medieval times, but now used when speaking to an inferior in a pompous and old-fashioned tone.

Suffixes

Suffixes are added to pronouns to make them plural.

Romaji	Hiragana Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...	Kanji Kanji Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...	Level of speech	Gender	Notes
tachi	たち	達	informal; examples: 私達, watashi-tachi, あなた達, anata-tachi 彼女たち, kanojo-tachi 君たち, kimi-tachi	both	Makes the pronoun plural; for example, watashi ("I") becomes watashi-tachi ("we"). Also can be attached to names to indicate that person and the group (s)he is with (Ryuichi-tachi = "Ryuichi and friends").
kata, gata	かた, がた	方	formal (ex. あなた方, anata-gata)	both	More polite than 達 tachi.
domo	ども	共	humble (ex. 私ども, watakushi-domo)	both	Casts some aspersion on the mentioned group, so it can be rude
ra	ら	等	informal (ex. 彼ら, karera. 俺ら, ore-ra. 奴ら, yatsu-ra. あいつら, aitsu-ra)	both	Used with informal pronouns. Frequently used with hostile words. Sometimes used for light humble as domo (ex. 私ら, watashi-ra)

See also

• Gender differences in spoken Japanese
  Gender differences in spoken Japanese
  The Japanese language is unusual among major languages in the high degree to which the speech of women collectively differs from that of men. Differences in the ways that girls and boys use language have been detected in children as young as three years old ....
  
  
• Gender-neutral pronoun: Japanese
• Japanese honorifics
  Japanese honorifics
  The Japanese language has many honorifics, parts of speech which show respect, and their use is mandatory in many social situations. Honorifics in Japanese may be used to emphasize social distance or disparity in rank, or to emphasize social intimacy or similarity in rank.The system of honorifics...
  
  
• T–V distinction, pronoun distinctions more generally

External links

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