Questions tagged [second-person-pronouns]
二人称代名詞. Second-person pronouns like あなた, きみ, and おまえ (cf. English "you").
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How cross-applicable were Classical Chinese second-person pronouns to Japanese kanji?
I'm fairly certain there's a certain stigma surrounding second-person pronouns in Japanese. Even in Chinese, it's generally considered polite to avoid them (and refer to a person by surname, title, ...
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How to address someone like the owner of a guesthouse
So I am currently in Japan for vacation and also some short work visit and had the chance to use Japanese a little. I learnt things mostly from reading, so I struggled to formulate things verbally in ...
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Why is "お前" and "あたし" used in Spirited Away?
I was watching the animated film by Hayao Miyazaki named "Spirited Away" in Japanese (I'm still a beginner) and I noticed that Yubaba and Zeniba use "お前" as second person singular. ...
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The generic (you) pronoun
() marks all the personal English pronouns (I) used in writing this post
Example:
So let’s say a friend asked me in English about what (I) find the most challenging about Japanese and (I) want to ...
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"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 ...
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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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What's the significance of this female character's use of おまえ?
I'm accustomed to thinking of おまえ, in modern Japanese, as a second-person pronoun and form of address that is used by men and boys with their inferiors or equals. But in 『少年と犬』, by 馳星周, there's a ...
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What's the correct 'you' to use in this case?
Would you leave 'you' out of translating this sentence in a casual conversation with acquaintance by email?
Money's worth what you make it worth.
So would お金は価値を持ってそれを作るものをの価値がある be correct and ...
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Why is 自分たち used here?
I was wondering why 自分たち is used instead of, let's say トールたち or another personal pronoun to refer to Tohru and Co.
for context: Tohru and Co just finished performing a stage play. They managed it ...
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Honorifics in Japan
I learnt alot of korean and also the fact that a younger girl would call an older girl 'eonni' or and older boy 'oppa'. Also a younger boy would say Noona (older girl) or hyung (older boy). Do ...
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How politely to say "you"?
I found many variants in the internet, but they include あなた, which as I know isn't polite and better not to say it to a stranger.
So, if I don't know the name/last name of the person, don't know the ...
user33366
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How to ask if a dropped object belongs to someone?
Let's say I see a wallet on the ground and a person I suspect dropped it. In English I would naturally ask" Excuse me. Is this your wallet?" A direct Japanese translation would be"すみませんあなたの財布ですか" but ...
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Why was I called 君？
I’m talking with someone on Tandem who I’ve never spoken to before and he immediately called me 君. He’s only 2 years older than me and I thought きみ was for relationships where there is a bigger age ...
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Nouns: References to "Both" and "They"
When speaking to a couple, I had difficulties referring to them collectively, as I try to express "both of you".
What is the best way to refer to the both of them, instead of 「A」さんと「B」さん?
Would ふたりは ...
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Is it acceptable to use あなた when referring to a superior indirectly?
I know that generally あなた shouldn't be used when referring to superiors. However, I find it difficult to rephrase the following sentences which refer to a superior using あなた in an indirect manner:
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Is あなた considered rude?
So a Japanese teacher told me that あなた (anata) was a bit rude. But today I talked with a Japanese and she used あなた ... so, I'm a bit confused (we just met in a language exchange app).
So I suspect ...
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Can you use "anata" with people you don't know well?
I have read repeatedly that the pronoun "anata" (meaning "you") is very personal and should not be used.
But to say something like "Which car is yours?" I would say "Dono kuruma ga anata no desu ka?"
...
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Forms of address between couples
I've come to understand that middle aged women may refer to their husbands as あなた when talking to them. If a wife is talking to a friend or work colleague, how would she refer to her husband?
Also for ...
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Difference between the usage of 君 and キミ
From what I read earlier, 君【きみ】 can be used for "you". But in many instances over the Internet, I have seen キミ being used instead of 君【きみ】. What is the usage difference between the two?
If I ...
user18888
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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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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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When referring to in-laws using 義理, do you use the familial term relative to yourself or to your spouse?
When using terms such as 義理のお兄さん and 義理の弟, do you choose お兄さん vs 弟 relative to your own age, or relative to your spouses age?
If you are older than your spouse, but said spouse's older brother is ...
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あなた when a guy says that to a girl
I read online about different usages for あなた and how it can convey meanings and it's best to be avoided as it can come off as rude.
so I got into a situation where I was referred as anata by an older ...
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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 ...
Flaw♦
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Is there a less formal way to say あなた？
My friend told me I sound too polite when I say あなた, but my book only uses that for second person pronoun.
Are there multiple ways to say it and if so, which one is best to use with friends?
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Appropriate context for お前【まえ】
When I was learning about 持ってくる【もってくる】 in college we did some roleplaying to practice using it. When my turn came up it was a husband and wife, with a line along the lines of the following:
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Addressing a friend's parents when meeting them for the first time
I have met the parents of a close Japanese friend two times in my life and have never been sure how I should address them. Both times I've asked the friend beforehand but never got a satisfactory ...
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俺 and 僕 used as second person singular pronouns
I often see couples where the girl sometimes speaks to her boyfriend using 俺 as a 'you'.
Where does it come from?
Can other pronouns like 僕、私、あたし, etc. can be used the same way?
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When is it appropriate to use お宅 to refer to the second-person?
An answer to "What is the most natural way to refer to someone when you don't know their name and don't have a close relationship with them?" suggests that お宅 may be used to refer to the second person....
Flaw♦
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A polite way to say " this person"
What do I say in Japanese when I'm trying to imply, "This is my dad", "These are my parents", "This is my friend(female)" or "This is my manager"?
I don't think using これ is polite, nor will 彼 be ...
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What does 御用の向きとは mean + usage of うぬ in the meaning of "you"
I have two questions:
What's the meaning of a phrase: 御用の向きとは? Is it a set expression? I found a few examples where it was ended with a question mark, in some cases preceded by addressing an ...
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In actual Japanese society, how often are second-person pronouns used?
My Japanese professor (I'm in first-year Japanese) advised us to primarily avoid the use of second-person pronouns like あなた or 君 or おまえ throughout the year, and essentially treated their utterance as ...
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Why is "kisama" more refined than "temee"?
From Wikipedia:
–§– 貴様 — formerly an extremely honorific form of address; in modern speech is as insulting as, but more refined than, "temee"
貴様 is often said (...
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Is it offensive to say あなた?
My teacher says that we should avoid あなた, like わたし, which could be taken off. Following this, I try to refer to the second person by the name: 加藤さんの趣味は何ですか. But there are situations where we forget ...
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