Questions tagged [first-person-pronouns]
一人称代名詞. The many Japanese words that correspond to English "I" and "me" but differ in nuances such as formality, respect, intimacy, etc.
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1answer
111 views
“Strategies” to speak in 1st, 2nd or 3rd person without pronouns
My level of Japanese is still very basic. So sorry if I what I'm saying doesn't make sense.
As I understand it, Japanese do not like the usage of pronouns to express if a sentence's subject or direct ...
3
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1answer
312 views
The use of 僕 by office employees
In the famous 1952 film 生きる (Ikiru), the government-office employees frequently use 僕 to refer to themselves (even the female character used it). Based on this understanding of 僕, 僕 is basically a ...
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1answer
103 views
How much “weight” do personal pronouns have?
I always feel like I have an identity crisis when I try to say "I" in Japanese.
After reading so much about differences between the various pronouns I've gotten the impression that whatever ...
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0answers
70 views
Confusing interchangeability of 汝 and 己
In most cases, 汝 is the formal/archaic second person pronoun, "you/thou", and 己 is a humble and archaic first-person pronoun or a way to refer to oneself.
However, confusingly, in many ...
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1answer
480 views
How do fathers say “I” when talking to their children in Japanese?
In this thread, I asked about how parents say "I" when talking to their children. I want to refine that question to specifically how fathers refer to themselves. My understanding is that fathers ...
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1answer
162 views
Why is Lucoa using 僕 when referring to herself?
I was re-watching Dragon Maid and was wondering why Lucoa is using 僕 even though she's female.
Lucoa: 僕にも演出やらせて、やらせて!
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1answer
245 views
How commonly is てめぇ used as a synonym for 自分?
The following exchange happens in One Piece:
ブルック: い...行くんですか！？サンジさん！！！
サンジ: 行かいでかてめぇの問題だ！！男サンジやらねばならぬ！！！
I found the sentence kind of baffling at first because as far as I know 行かいでか is Edo ...
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2answers
214 views
What is the proper way to use 余[よ] as a personal pronoun?
Whenever I play Fate/Grand Order, one thing I often hear when I use that game's version of Nero Claudius is her using 余 when referring to herself. Looking it up shows me that this particular pronoun ...
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1answer
2k views
Should 私の be omitted?
I have the following sentence on my Japanese LinkedIn page:
私 の 目的 は 主導 と 代表的 な 執行 と 技術革新 通じて 例外的 な 質 を 生むて います。
It is meant to mirror my English mission statement:
"My mission is to deliver ...
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vote
1answer
159 views
Formal, feminine first-person pronoun
よろしくお願いします。 I am writing a scene (in English, with occasional
Japanese for flavor and difficult-to-translate terms) where a rather
androgynous woman is in a Tokyo department store, speaking with a ...
5
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1answer
591 views
When do you use your own name to refer to yourself?
I searched for "referring to yourself in third person" and other similar phrases , but found only these: Q1, Q2. All searches in google also lead to similar discussions.
But I already know that ...
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2answers
267 views
Pronoun collocations
I have embarked on a project of translating a novel I am writing into Japanese in parallel with writing it, and one of the hardest parts for me (in contemplation, I haven't really gotten that far) is ...
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3answers
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Is there a casual gender-neutral first-person pronoun?
I know that 私, while being used by both men and women, is relatively formal or at least polite and so wouldn't necessarily be used when talking to a close friend, etc. On the other hand, 俺、僕、and あたし ...
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1answer
212 views
Use of personal pronouns when talking to different “ranked” people. (In the same conversation)
First time posting here.
I have a question that have been bothering me for quite a while.
I wonder how to use the personal pronouns (僕/俺 & お前/きみ/あなた) in a conversation with different "ranked" ...
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vote
1answer
133 views
How would one address oneself when speaking to royalty?
Apart from avoiding using personal pronouns, when speaking to royalty, would one just use watashi, like in the following example:
Time: 05:32 - 05:50
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/...
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votes
2answers
339 views
Usage of 私｛わたし｝ in Informal Situations
I know Japanese males tend to use 俺｛おれ｝/僕｛ぼく｝ in informal contexts. Is it common to use 私｛わたし｝ too or it makes one sounds overly stiff and aloof?
Edit: What about 自分｛じぶん｝?
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3answers
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How did わし etc. become stereotypical “old people” pronouns
After reading this answer about the pronoun あちし, I became curious about how certain pronouns came to be associated with older people. As I see it, there are four main possibilities:
People just ...
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3answers
1k views
What does “オレ” in Pokemon Opening song mean?
The lyric says:
オレはこいつと 旅に出る
I wonder what オレ means. Is it a different way to write: "俺"?
Thanks! よろしくお願いします！
4
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1answer
315 views
あちし。。。Real or fiction
I've heard in some mangas あちし, which means "I". However, in every dictionary I've look at, It doesn't exist. So is this a fictional pronoun?
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4answers
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Difference between “私達” and “われわれ” when used as possessive pronouns?
When you are talking to a 3rd person, fundamentally
(1) それは、私達の出来あげたものです。
(2) それは、われわれの出来あげたものです。
mean:
That is something that we all created together.
With regard to using them as first ...
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2answers
350 views
Change in self-address for emphasis or to express frustration or dissatisfaction
Building on from this comment,
It is possible that in English, a mother may opt to refer to herself in the third person: using "Your mother" instead of "I" to create emphasis.
It is observed from ...
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1answer
710 views
僕 in 敬語 - is it possible?
With 丁寧語, it's very possible - 僕が行きます is a perfectly normal thing to say. But what of 僕が参ります? Would that sound odd? 私が参ります would be more normal, I think, but is 僕が参ります possible at all?
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1answer
252 views
Generic title for children redux & referring to self in the context of children
Continuing from this question
1. Generic title for children redux
Consider the following cases for each situation where a person speaks to two children of different age:
How are the following ...
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1answer
633 views
How common/formal is あたくし?
A while ago, I discovered that あたし has a more-formal variant: あたくし
This is obviously very similar to the relationship between わたし and わたくし. However, there are a couple of details that I'm not too ...
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2answers
619 views
Can 「奴」 be used to refer to a female?
Is the word 「奴」/「やつ」 (yatsu) ever used to refer to another female, or to refer to oneself if one is female? Or is it only used to refer to a male?
Answers to this question touched on the word 「奴」, ...
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0answers
111 views
How to do plurals? [duplicate]
I've seen there are two ways of saying we and pluralizing words using:
ら、たち
But I can't see the difference and I'm not sure if it can be used with all the pronouns. Are there other forms of ...
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3answers
748 views
Which personal pronouns and sentence ending particles would an old man use?
I'm somewhat informed on gendered speech in Japanese, however, I have also heard that age may play a part in which pronouns and sentence ending particles you use and can get away with. For instance, a ...
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1answer
342 views
The plural 等 in おいら, おら
Why do the singular first person pronouns 俺{おい}等{ら} and 俺{お}等{ら} involve the plural affix 等?
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2answers
713 views
What rules should be followed when saying “we”?
I know that, in Japanese, you can say X達【たち】 or Xら (where X is a first person pronoun) to say we.
However, what rules should be followed for choosing that "X". Can I use whatever I would use to refer ...
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2answers
568 views
Was 俺 ever gender-neutral?
I've heard elderly women in Japan referring to themselves using 俺. This leads me to believe that the usage has changed overtime to become only used by males. Did 俺 used to be gender-neutral?
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1answer
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When is it appropriate to refer to yourself using your name, rather than 私 (or others)?
I have heard—though not often—people refer to themselves using their first name, not by using a pronoun for "I." Does this have special connotation in Japanese? Nothing about the usage (to me) seemed ...
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1answer
5k views
Why is 自分 used instead of 私?
For example:
自分の名前が呼ばれたとき、私は自分の耳を疑った。I couldn't believe my ears when I heard my name called.
Would it be appropriate if I said 私? When is it appropriate to use 自分? What is the difference?
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1answer
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Difference between 自分 and 自分自身 and how to reflect their difference in English
Consider:
自分について書きたいことがあります。 = There are times that I want to write about myself (lit: things concerning me)
自分自身について書きたいことがあります。
What is their difference?
I think the second sentence has more ...
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votes
1answer
301 views
Finding the subject in Japanese. 自分だったら、これを大きくなってから見たら感動するだろうな
This is from the comments on this youtube page where an infant is cuddling with a bemused cat.
The commentator is writing on how cute the scene is. I am having trouble figuring out some of the ...
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0answers
3k views
私 (watashi) vs 僕 (boku) [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
Is it ok for non-japanese to refer to themselves as 僕（ぼく） and if not why?
How should I select what first-person pronoun to use?
How commonly are "あたし" (atashi) or &...
6
votes
1answer
502 views
Is it true that only girls use うち to refer to themselves?
Is it true that only girls will use うち to refer to themselves?
So when a guy say うち he is referring to his in-group / company / family, and not referring to himself, right?
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3answers
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Speaking in the third person
Many things that seem normal in English look arrogant in Japanese. I think I found a special case where the reverse is true. In Japanese is it normal to speak in the third person when referring to ...
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1answer
330 views
What is the nuance of この + [first person pronoun]?
For example, from the song Fare Well by L'Arc~en~Ciel:
あなたは いつまでも この僕のこと 愛してくれたのかな
and countless examples from manga, like:
だが このオレは 死なん...
こんどは このオレが きさまを 滅ぼす
このオレに 勝てるわけがない
My guess is that it ...
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4answers
444 views
Giving something to oneself
what is the theory that 僕は自分にプレゼントをあげる is right but not 僕は自分にプレゼントをくれる ?
Btw I'm also curious if these sentences are equally valid:
A) 僕は自身にプレゼントをあげる
B) 僕は自分自身にプレゼントをある
C) ボブはボブにプレゼントを[あげる/くれる?]
...
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2answers
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Just how rude is 「俺{おれ}」?
Statistics seem to show that (for young males, anyway) 俺{おれ} is beginning to be used more often than 僕{ぼく} to refer to oneself. I have read that 俺 is somewhat rude.
There are certain situations, of ...
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3answers
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Use of 自分【じぶん】as a personal pronoun in direct speech
Yay, yet another first-person-pronoun question!
I know that 自分 is commonly used as a personal pronoun in indirect speech, e.g.:
マイクは、自分はなんと不注意なのだろうと言った。→ Mike said that he was very careless.
...
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3answers
686 views
When is it appropriate to refer to yourself by これ?
I have occasionally heard and read instances, where a person has referred to themselves as これ. My Japanese dictionary also lists "Me, I." as a definition of これ.
Now, this obviously isn't used as ...
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3answers
549 views
Is there a dialect where older men refer to themselves as あたし?
I remember reading that there is a dialect in which older men refer to themselves as あたし. It didn't have a feminine connotation, it may have even been a bit rough.
I think I read it on Wikipedia, but ...
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4answers
4k views
How commonly are “あたし” or “[僕]{ぼく}” used?
My friend and I are learning Japanese. For a time, all we knew was 私, but after we learned more words, she started to use あたし when referring to herself, and I began using 僕. What I'm wondering is, how ...
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3answers
4k views
Is it ok for non-japanese to refer to themselves as 僕{ぼく} and if not why?
Grammatically speaking it shouldn't be an issue, but I have heard from some people that a non-japanese using 僕{ぼく} sounds really weird. Has anyone else heard this? And if so, is there a reason?
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6answers
6k views
How should I select what first-person pronoun to use?
I've always had trouble choosing which first person pronoun to use - 私 (watashi), 僕 (boku), or 俺 (おれ). What kind of factors should I keep in mind when choosing between these? Is it common to vary one'...
