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The Japanese word(s) for "you"

d3jake

C++ Programmer
9 Mar 2005
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I was watching all of the episodes of Love Hina last weekend, it was a version that wasn't dubbed and had subtitles which doesn't bother me at all. The thing that I noticed is that almost any time the subtitle said "you" the character just said the name of the person they were talking to. Now am I imagining things?
 
No, you're not imagining things. In Japanese, it sounds stilted and too forward, perhaps, to address someone with 'you.' It's more common in Japanese to just use the person's name. That is what I have learned.
 
no anata no anata

Also i think it also depends on friendliness I have japanese friends who got tired of me using thier names so they tell me to please say anata when speaking directly to them. I think this is more common in letter writing and indirect conversation to say the persons name.
 
I've often read that it is impolite to use 'you' unless you really know the person well. Almost like the Tu and Vous in french. Something else you might notice. The person on screen will say the characters surname and the subtitles will put on there first name.
 
note: Anime = NOT the same as real life ;-).

Mostly someone who is speaking about himself uses his name when explaining something or talking to another person. "I have to work from 6 to ..." => "Natsuki wa .... ".
OR
"Are u going to the mall tomorrow ?" -> "Debittosan wa ..." then they use the real name instead of anata.I think against friends and family it's ok, but to other people I don't know, I didn't spend enough time in Japan to notice what people use the most, maybe some native Japanese or people like Maciamo,Thomas,Mikecash,etc. can give a good answer on that? :)
 
Damicci said:
no anata no anata

Also i think it also depends on friendliness I have japanese friends who got tired of me using thier names so they tell me to please say anata when speaking directly to them. I think this is more common in letter writing and indirect conversation to say the persons name.
I think you can start out using the person's name and then shift to anata (or another pronoun) with friends.
 
Damicci said:
no anata no anata

Also i think it also depends on friendliness I have japanese friends who got tired of me using thier names so they tell me to please say anata when speaking directly to them. I think this is more common in letter writing and indirect conversation to say the persons name.

If they asked you to use something as emotionally distant as "anata", then I suspect that you were using their names without any suffix (or with one they thought overly intimate) and either didn't like the "yobisute" or the forwardness.
 
If you want to emphasize the You part, just use Anata. But try not to overuse it. Sometimes you could interchange Anata with the name of the person whom you are addressing to.
 
I don't usually use "you" to address someone I'm talking with unless I don't know the name of the person.
 
I use "san" But one of my friends doesn't want me to use san she said it is overly intimate ???? so I just use her name in emails. But when speaking directly like over the phone or in person they have told me to use anata. It's more casual. This should only be used with well known friends. I wouldn't use anata if I was speaking to someone's parent and the such.
But never mentioned anything about over useage so I guess I am ok.

I think everyone has thier own views on the useage best would be to ask someone if it bothers if your not sure what to say or just "person'sname-san" is your best bet.
 
I learned from my japanese teacher to try and avoid to use the word "anata", since many wives refer to their husband's as "anata", and it might sound odd in daily use...

Also... might it be more impolite to use "anata" than the person's name... especially if you know it?
 
Looks like I have a lot to learn... Oh well you have to start somewhere.
 
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