Personal Pronouns in Japanese

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. In English, examples of pronouns include I, they, who, it, this, none and so on. Pronouns perform a variety of grammatical functions and are thus heavily used is most languages. There are many subtypes of pronouns such as  personal pronouns,  reflexive  pronouns,  possessive pronouns,  demonstrative pronouns, and more. Japanese vs English Pronoun Usage The use of Japanese personal pronouns is quite different from English. They are not used as often as their English counterparts, though there are a variety of pronouns in Japanese depending on the gender or the style of speech. If the context is clear, the Japanese prefer not to use the personal pronouns. It is important to learn how to use them, but also important to understand how not to use them. Unlike English, there is no strict rule to have a grammatical subject in a sentence. How to Say I Here are the different ways one can say I depending on the situation and to whom one is speaking to, whether it be a superior or a close friend. watakushi ã‚ Ã£ Å¸Ã£  Ã£ â€" --- very formalwatashi ã‚ Ã£ Å¸Ã£ â€" --- formalboku (male) Ã¥Æ'•, atashi (female) 㠁‚㠁Ÿã â€" --- informalore (male) ä ¿ º --- very informal How to Say You The following are the different ways of saying you depending on the circumstances. otaku 㠁Šã Å¸Ã£   --- very formalanata 㠁‚㠁 ªÃ£ Å¸ --- formalkimi (male) Ã¥ â€º --- informalomae (male) 㠁Šå‰ , anta 㠁‚ん㠁Ÿ--- very informal Japanese Personal Pronoun Usage Among these pronouns, watashi and anata are the most common. However, as mentioned above, they are often omitted in conversation. When addressing your superior, anata is not appropriate and should be avoided. Use the persons name instead. Anata is also used by wives when they address their husbands. Omae is sometimes used by husbands when addressing their wives, though it sounds a little bit old-fashioned. Third Person Pronouns The pronouns for the third person are kare (he) or kanojo (she). Rather than using these words, it is preferred to use the persons name or describe them as ano hito (that person). It is not necessary to include gender. Here are some sentence examples: Kyou Jon ni aimashita.ä »Å Ã¦â€" ¥Ã£â€š ¸Ã£Æ' §Ã£Æ' ³Ã£  «Ã¤ ¼Å¡Ã£ â€žÃ£  ¾Ã£ â€"㠁Ÿã€‚I saw him (John) today.Ano hito o shitte imasu ka.㠁‚㠁 ®Ã¤ º ºÃ£â€šâ€™Ã§Å¸ ¥Ã£  £Ã£  ¦Ã£ â€žÃ£  ¾Ã£ â„¢Ã£ â€¹Do you know her? Additionally, kare or kanojo often means a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Here are the terms used in a sentence: Kare ga imasu ka.Ã¥ ½ ¼Ã£ Å'㠁„㠁 ¾Ã£ â„¢Ã£ â€¹Do you have a boyfriend?Watashi no kanojo wa kangofu desu.ç § Ã£  ®Ã¥ ½ ¼Ã¥ ¥ ³Ã£  ¯Ã§Å"‹è ­ ·Ã¥ © ¦Ã£  §Ã£ â„¢My girlfriend is a nurse. Plural Personal Pronouns To make plurals, a suffix ~ tachi (é â€) is added like watashi-tachi (we) or anata-tachi (you plural). The suffix ~ tachi can be added to not only pronouns but to some other nouns referring to people. For example, kodomo-tachi (Ã¥ ­ Ã¤ ¾â€ºÃ© â€) means children. For the word anata, the suffix ~ gata (æâ€" ¹) is used sometimes to make it plural instead of using ~ tachi. Anata-gata (㠁‚㠁 ªÃ£ Å¸Ã¦â€" ¹) is more formal than anata-tachi. The suffix ~ ra (ら) is also used for kare, such as karera (they).