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Update: I didn't comment on the fact that speaking about oneself can also be a matter of using "he" or "she" for oneself, as well as using one's own name. I have never heard anyone in Japanese use 彼【かれ】(he) or 彼女【かのじょ】(she) to refer to themselves. As far as I can tell, it has more or less the same implications that it would in English, and you can follow ...

To add a little bit more to what YOU said in his answer: in some Classical Japanese texts これ was indeed used as a first (and also second) person pronoun. It's not the most common first person pronoun in Classical Japanese (that would probably be われ), but it's a possible use, so maybe that's where your dictionary got that from. The quote from 枕草子 (The Pillow ...

While the pronoun 私 has its own referent, meaning I, 自分 (in the Tokyo dialect) does not have its own referent, and it means self. That is the difference. In this case, it will be somewhat redundant if you use 私 in place of 自分 because there will be two different instances of the pronoun 私 referring to the same thing: 私 の名前が呼ばれたとき、 私 は自分の耳を疑った。 If you ...

There is a lot going on in this. The biggest problem is the fact that the structure of the example sentence you found is a bit more advanced than you are used to. The example sentence is right. If you were to break it down 食べている = currently eating 人は = "a person" [the は marks the "person" the focus of the question] います = exists か = ? ...

This is what dictionary@goo says about あなた: 対等または目下の者に対して、丁寧に、または親しみをこめていう。 妻が夫に対して、軽い敬意や親しみをこめてい。 In definition (1), it's said that あなた is used for second person who is equivalent or subordinate/inferior/junior while being polite or intimate/familiar. Definition (2) states that it can also be used between spouses to intimately call each ...

For your question of how to say "you" without being rude in a context where you're not sure of the person's name or your status relationship, you can say 「そちら」. As for when to use あなた, this might seem a little odd, but think of あなた as like calling someone "dude". You use it between friends. You can say it to strangers, but only if you're trying to convey ...

食べている人はいますか？ Literally translated this means: "Are there people who are eating?" This basically means the same thing as "Is anyone eating?" The first translation is unnatural in colloquial English, while the second one would be the natural way to say it. Your attempt seems correct to me (minus the が). However, another interpretation of 誰でも could be ...

In informal settings, you might use あたし達, to your parents-in-law you might use 私達, and in business settings, you might use 我々 or 私共. It can depend on many things, including possibly your gender, but it doesn't generally depend on whether there is somebody of the other gender in the group you refer to. The Japanese plural marker 達 as well as ら and others ...

Yes it can be used to nominate yourself in specific situations. I see two main cases. case 1: Do something for someone but in a question. as you tried to explain, But can I also use this to nominate myself to go? For example if a group of people were together and it was decided that only one person needed to go somewhere would it be correct to say "私が行こう"? ...

彼 can mean either 'boyfriend' or 'male person,' but the problem with your original interpretation or the one you were told is that they are interpreting 彼 as an indefinite person, translating it with a(n). A better counterpart is him. And note that the relative clause in this case is a non-restrictive one, not a restrictive one. Depending on the context, it ...

I think that would be おれ 「俺」, and actually most frequently used first person pronoun for males in Japan currently when speaking. The one you found in dictionary might be from まくらそうし「枕草子」 at Middle Heian-Era (around 1000 Years ago) but I don't think that one is in used recently. or これ or こら has another meaning like "Hey" これ,静かにしろ　 Hey, be quiet! Note: ...

You can use こちら (the humble form of ここ) to refer to yourself (and your in-group). It's not exactly これ but it's close. I would say this is most often heard in the phrase こちらこそ, used after someone thanks you to say something along the lines of, "The pleasure was all mine."　See definition #3, given as synonymous with 自分（たち）. I tend to use it in situations that ...

Just being curious: where did you learn about the correctness of the two first ones? I can't recall hearing anything like that ever. In a similar way, even if gramatically correct, your other sentences with the "I" subject feel very unnatural to me. I believe that a natural way to express self rewarding would be: "プレセントを買わせてもらいましょう", where context and ...

This is just my personal opinion, but I thought I'd share it. I don't think 私は私にプレゼントをあげた / 僕は僕にプレゼントをあげた are correct, because you can't あげる something to 私. You would have to もらう or くれる it. On the other hand, I see 私は自分にプレゼントをあげた as possibly being grammatically correct, as 自分 is a reflexive pronoun — different from 私 and 僕 which are non-reflexive. ...

I would argue that there is a correspondence between the two languages with all three viewpoints. There are pronouns that are commonly used for the first, second, and third person just like in English; however, there is a bit of a cultural difference on when it is appropriate to address someone by name or a more informal second-person pronoun like "you". ...

You are over analysing. English and Japanese often do not translate word for word (no matter how much you try to make them do so!) A thorough analysis of this sentence (which I am sure you don't need but we might aswell) would be: 食べている人(person eating - modified noun) は(topic marker)います(present - animate word for existence)か？(question mark) In English ...

When a politician of the political party in power talks to a member of the former Government political party, he/she may say 「お宅の党の政策のつけが今こちらに周ってきているんですよ。」. It is less polite than saying 「～さんの党の政策のつけが・・・」. It sounds equal to say 「あなたの党の・・・」 here but 「お宅」 implies that the relationship between the talking person and the second person is not close and rather ...

I think you need to divorce the concept of "third person grammar" and pronouns/addressing people. The third person concept simply does not have the same relevance in Japanese grammar. [person] は何がしたいんですか？ [person] here can be many things, which depends on the formality, intimacy and other context. It has no direct bearing on the grammar of the rest of ...

(1) about the difference in meaning between 「自分について書きたいことがあります。」and 「自分自身について書きたいことがあります。」. According to the dictionaries 大辞泉 and 広辞苑 「自分自身」 emphasizes 「自分」. Martin (p. 1050) translates both watakushi jishin and watakushi jibun as "I myself" and translates watakushi jibun jishin as "I myself (in person)..."; "I my very own self" - which are ways to ...

達 or ら is not especially for first person. Although there are combinations that you cannot use, they can be used with other persons. あなたたち, あなたら, 君たち, 君ら 達 is different from pluralization. It means "and others". 私たち means "I and others". The others do not have to fit the original noun or pronoun. But for the pronoun part, I don't think you see much ...

What's the meaning of a phrase: 御用の向きとは? go-yō means business. It is an honorific expression. muki, in this context, means desire or wish. And towa is grammar that is being used here to express a question. "What is it that you desire?" or "What is your business?". Depending of the fuller context, you may be able to simplify this to "What can I do for ...

2 - うぬ comes from the kanji 己 (any my dictionary also shows 汝) which is a character for "self". 己 has several readings including おのれ, おの, おれ and うぬ. They mostly are used to refer to yourself, but apparently can be used vulgarly to mean "you" (in the 2nd person). My dictionary says it as "Blockhead!". I feel that any of these forms is mostly archaic ...

I suggest you read this thread: In actual Japanese society, how often are second-person pronouns used? As I replied there, I would suggest avoiding 2nd person pronouns (including あなた) completely, unless you're absolutely sure what you're doing. As you say yourself, it's common to use the name of title of the person you're talking to, so the only trouble ...