Saturday, December 2, 2017

Japanese Pronouns - I, You, He, She, They, My, This, That

For reference, the pronouns of the Japanese language, and the posts which talked about them.

Personal Pronouns

First Person Pronouns

The following words can be used to say "I" in Japanese:

The above are the most common, but there are other first pronouns too.

Second Person Pronouns

The following words can be used to say "you" in Japanese:

There are immense differences between the words above.

Sometimes kono この means "you" when swearing. See kono yarou この野郎.

Third Person Pronouns

The following word can be used to say "he" in Japanese:

And this is how you'd say "she" in Japanese:

Besides the above, the pronoun aitsu あいつ is sometimes used with a meaning similar to "he."

The following demonstrating pronouns mean "this person," "that person," but can be understood as "me," "you," ""he," or "she" depending on context.

"It"

There's no Japanese equivalent for the pronoun "it." See the article "It" in Japanese for examples of how the functions of "it" in English translate to Japanese.

Demonstrative Pronouns

This, that, here, there, etc. in Japanese are expressed through the kosoado kotoba.

This, That, What

To say the nouns "this," "that," and "what" in Japanese:

To say the adjectives "this," "that," and "what" in Japanese:

There are certain Japanese words like kou こう, konna こんあ, kochira こちら, and others. that also mean "this," "that," and "what," each with a different nuance. See kosoado kotoba for details.

Here, There, Where

To say "this," "there," and "where" in Japanese:

Plural Pronouns

In Japanese, plurals don't work the same way they do in English. In particular, Japanese has the so-called pluralizing suffixes tachi たち and ra, which can be combined with pronouns to form plural pronouns.

To say "we" in Japanese:
  • watashitachi 私たち
  • bokura 僕ら, bokutachi 僕達
  • orera 俺ら, oretachi 俺達

To say "they" in Japanese:
  • karera 彼ら
    They. (he and the others)
  • kanojotachi 彼女たち
    They. (she and the others)

To say "these" and "those" in Japanese:
  • korera これら
  • sorera それら

Object Pronouns

There are no words for "me," "us," "him," "her," and "them" in Japanese. There's no distinction between subject pronouns and object pronouns in Japanese.

The only difference is in the usage of particles. This has been explained in simple sentences in Japanese. For example:
  • watashi ga kare wo koroshita 私が彼を殺した
    I killed him.
  • kare ga watashi wo koroshita 彼が私を殺した
    He killed me.

Possessive Pronouns

There are no words for "my," "his," "her," "their" in Japanese. There are no words for "mine," "hers," and "theirs" either.

Instead, the no の particle is used together with a pronoun to express what it possesses. For example:
  • ore no kane 俺の金
    My money.
  • anata no yume あなたの夢
    Your dream.
  • kare no nozomi 彼の望み
    His wish.
  • kanojotachi no kimochi
    彼女たちの気持ち
    Their feelings.

Personal Pronouns Chart

For reference, a chart with the personal pronouns:

Chart listing the Japanese personal pronouns

2 comments:

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  1. Thanks a lot for this post, it helps a great deal !
    (three years after it was published is a bit late, but I stll want you to know I'm grateful)

    Have a wonderful day

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for this post its really help me for begginer to learn this language.wish i could speak japanese soon....

    ReplyDelete