One of the first things you learn in a new language is pronouns – I,
you, he, she, and so on. Japanese makes this a bit more complicated.... Each words has a different connotation reflecting the
speaker’s view of his/herself and their relationship to the listener.
Firstly, I’m going to introduce to you a list of "I" words in Japanese....
Common forms
Of the many ways to say “I” in Japanese, these are the ones that are actually used by real, living people who are being serious.
Watashi (私)
Watashi is the standard, gender-free way to say “I” and
is the first one learners are introduced to. If you don’t know which
I-word to use, this is your best bet.
The only trap of it, is that in Japanese saying “watashi mo” (meaning: “me too”) can come off as very effeminate if you use it in an informal situation. Men should take care to say “boku mo” or use some other I-word instead.
Watakushi (私)
Yes, the kanji is the same as for watashi (watashi is actually just a shortened form of watakushi).
This word is a highly formal “I.” You might hear politicians, CEOs,
or other public-relations figures use it when making official
announcements, but generally you should avoid this word as it can come
across as arrogant or condescending.
If you watch anime or read manga, you’ll notice that this is the I-word of choice for rich characters.
Boku (僕)
Boku is what you could think of as the “soft-masculine”
I-word. This is perfectly okay for formal situations, but only used by males. It literally means “manservant” so when you use it there is a
sense that you are humbling yourself before the speaker.
Boku is used primarily by men, but very young and/or boyish girls sometimes use it too. Usually women use boku in song lyrics.
Ore (俺)
If boku is the “soft-masculine” I-word then ore
is the “hard-masculine.” This is definitely not formal and should only be used in casual situations. This is the word tough guys use, and as such
you would almost never hear it used with a polite verb form
.
It’s not polite by any stretch of the imagination, but to say it’s a “rude” word would be a mistake as well. Ore can
actually convey a sense of intimacy (we’re close friends, so I don’t
need to worry about being polite with you). This is probably the most
common I-word among groups of men (except in business or other formal
settings).
Atashi (あたし)
This is an informal effeminate form of watashi. Leaving off the 'w' sound at the beginning and it has a
kind of “cute” nuance to it. Because kanji are generally seen as
masculine, this word has no kanji form. It is written in either hiragana
or katakana.
Uchi (内)
Uchi is informal and has no gender
connotation, and usually used by adolescent girls. It literally means “inside.” This is a good word for women to use if they want to be
informal, but avoid the cuteness of atashi.
Kochira/Kocchi
This is another popular and versatile way to say “I.” It literally means “this way.”
While kochira and kocchi are the same word (kocchi is an abbreviated version), they differ pretty dramatically in how formal they are. Kochira is
highly polite and is often used in business situations, especially one
the phone. Because of it’s root meaning of “this way” it is ambiguous in
number, it can be used to mean “we” without any changes to the word.
Kocchi is much more informal and frequently used among
friends. It’s also handy for its neutrality, meaning that when you use
it you’re not making a statement about your social position relative to
the listener (you are–however–still making a statement about social
distance).
Note: similarly, you can use sochira/socchi to mean “you.”
Ware (我)
Used more commonly in it’s “we” form (我々/wareware), ware by itself and meaning just “I” is pretty uncommon, but not unheard of.
It’s also probably the the most difficult I-word in this post because
depending on how you use it it can come out not only as “I” but either
as “one’s self” (not necessarily the speaker), or even “you” (although
usage as “you” is very dated).
My impression of this word is it has a kind of wise, sage-like
feeling to it. It’s almost always used in a short, declarative statement
of some kind.
Washi
This is yet a further shortening of the word watashi. It is
reserved for use by old men or men who for some reason have acquired a
very slurred speech style. Perhaps they dropped the ta to keep themselves from spitting on people when they talked.
In the Kansai region, this I-word can be further shortened to just wai.
Jibun (自分)
another option is to use jibun which means something like 'myself.'
There are a group of I-words that are no longer used
in modern Japanese (though Japanese know them through media and
literature), and as such they will definitely alert your listener that
you are consciously selecting your I word, usually either as a joke or
to imitate some character. While they’re fun to know, don’t use these
under regular circumstances.
Wagahai
Wagahai (吾輩) is a classical way to say “I” that was used by older men of high social stature.
Oira (おいら)
Oira is an alternate form of ore which was more widely used back in the Edo period. It was apparently used even by some women in the late-Edo period.
Today, this word has a youthful and male feeling to it (because of
it’s youthful nature, it is rarely written in it’s kanji form: 己等), and
is the I-word of choice for… housepets! (as spoken through their owners, of course…).
Sessha (拙者)
Sessha is another classical way to a say “I” which
literally means “clumsy person.” Samurai used this word, because being
humble about their abilities was the samurai thing to do.
Atai
The word atai is a girls-only “I” word that is a shortened version of atashi.
It originated with the courtesans, prostitutes and young girls from
Tokyo’s pleasure quarters, but it seems that most people are unfamiliar
with this history.
Yo (余)
Yo is yet another rarely used classical way to say “I.”
It was used by men of extremely high stature. I’ve really only come
across it being employed by “heartless-overlord”-type characters in some
anime and manga.
Warawa (妾)
Warawa is how a samurai’s wife would say “I.” It’s a
classical female form, used by women to humble themselves before others.
The kanji itself refers to a man’s non-primary wife or his mistress.
Personal name
But here's something important to know – Japanese people don't often
refer to themselves much. The pronoun is a grammatical necessity in
English. Even if you know who is doing what in the sentence, you still
need to say it. Not so in Japanese. The subject is implied whenever
possible. In fact, it's best to use it only when necessary.
