Watashi? Watakushi? Others?

Dan B · 26 Jun 2004

When I was a little boy in Tokyo, I learned that わたくし means "I."

But my new beginner's textbook uses わたし exclusively (so far, anyway).

So I looked them up in Kodansha's Furigana Dictionary. From what I understand, these are both fairly formal ways to say "I." Other--presumably less formal--entries are listed below (I'm listing the Hiragana only. Kanji and I don't yet see eye-to-eye...):

あたし

ぼく (I kind of remember this one, but I seem to recall it being used more in a possessive sense.)

おれ

I'm sure that the respective usage of each must be context-specific, but which of these do you all usually hear? Is there a scale of formality that I should be aware of?

Thanks!

Dan

Keiichi · 26 Jun 2004

watashi and watakushi are formal. Though watashi is more often used. I think I see watakushi used more by women.
atashi is more feminine and is generally used by females.
boku and ore are masculine and are often used by men. ore is a bit more masuline and informal and can be considered rude.
To be on the safe side while you're learning, just stick with watashi.

Glenn · 26 Jun 2004

Check out JRef's page on personal pronouns. Also, this page may be of some use.

David Hallgren · 26 Jun 2004

Here is a good link for you Dan: Language - Personal and Possessive Pronouns | Japan Forum

PS. Thanks for the credit, I will be glad to make improvements to the editor if you have any ideas!

Keiichi · 26 Jun 2004

Cool. Didn't know that Jref had this.

Dan B · 26 Jun 2004

Thanks very much, guys. I appreciate all the help and links. I had no idea there were so many different ways to say it. (It would seem that I should studiously avoid several of them!)

Both of those links are great, by the way! A lot of good information.

Thanks,

Dan

Glenn · 26 Jun 2004

There certainly are a lot. I thought that I knew close to all of them before I looked at the page, but then I found that there were probably ten or so that I hadn't even heard of! It's kind of mind boggling, really. I wonder why the need for so many different "I"s. As far as I know, there has only been one in English for the past couple of hundred years.

Erikku~ · 30 Jun 2004

You've probably already got a lot of help.
But I think this page is well worth a look! Lists a lot of ways of saying "I".
Japanese Language How to Wow! I and me

KickAss_Danieru · 3 Jul 2004

..after useing the kanji for watashi, i sometimes forget what it means when i see it in hiragana lol... gotta watch that..

Exidez · 6 Jul 2004

How can oresama 俺様 be less polite then ore 俺..
sama 様 is a extreme polite ending to put on the end of people's names

guldo · 6 Jul 2004

Exidez said:
How can oresama 俺様 be less polite then ore 俺..
sama 様 is a extreme polite ending to put on the end of people's names

You're right about sama, but I think that's extremely impolite for 2 reasons:
1) sama is supposed to be put after nouns, not pronouns;
2) the mocking contradiction between ore and sama.

IMHO

Exidez · 6 Jul 2004

guldo said:
You're right about sama, but I think that's extremely impolite for 2 reasons:
1) sama is supposed to be put after nouns, not pronouns;
2) the mocking contradiction between ore and sama.

IMHO

hmm
but japanese is so much like maths
for example two negatives make a positive. The same thing happens with verb constructions..

also when one of my japanese teachers was editing my sentence he was adding polite words and inpolite works in the same sentence to make it neutral.. sound weird i know, first time i herd of it...

but yeah, i will find out the truth tomorrow, I'm in japan anyway

Elizabeth · 6 Jul 2004

According to my Random House dictionary, ore is actually a noun -- but I've also seen things like "omaesan" in manga so it may not be such a hard and fast rule....

PaulTB · 6 Jul 2004

oresama is extremely impolite* because it is an honoriffic put after a reference to yourself. It is polite to put other people 'higher' with -san, -sama etc. It is extemely impolite to put yourself 'higher' with -san -sama etc.

It has nothing to do with 'ore' being a pronoun or not.

* Now. oresama was used in samurai times as a rather boastful way of raising their own standing in conversation.

Exidez · 7 Jul 2004

PaulTB said:
oresama is extremely impolite* because it is an honoriffic put after a reference to yourself. It is polite to put other people 'higher' with -san, -sama etc. It is extemely impolite to put yourself 'higher' with -san -sama etc.

It has nothing to do with 'ore' being a pronoun or not.

* Now. oresama was used in samurai times as a rather boastful way of raising their own standing in conversation.

yeah, that semas pretty logical if you put it like that

guldo · 7 Jul 2004

PaulTB said:
oresama is extremely impolite* because it is an honoriffic put after a reference to yourself. It is polite to put other people 'higher' with -san, -sama etc. It is extemely impolite to put yourself 'higher' with -san -sama etc.

It has nothing to do with 'ore' being a pronoun or not.

* Now. oresama was used in samurai times as a rather boastful way of raising their own standing in conversation.

I see.
Thanks

StorDuff · 13 Jul 2004

How about this one: wagahai.

From Souseki's famous book Wagahai wa neko de aru. Apparently it's pretty old and formal, I store it in my brain for fun, although I've never used it and never heard it used.

PaulTB · 13 Jul 2004

StorDuff said:
How about this one: wagahai.

From Souseki's famous book Wagahai wa neko de aru. Apparently it's pretty old and formal, I store it in my brain for fun, although I've never used it and never heard it used.

I've heard it used ... in anime. And seen it in books ... Harry Potter books.

StorDuff · 13 Jul 2004

Harry Potter, really? What was the context, like could you show me the sentence? I don't read those at all

PaulTB · 13 Jul 2004

StorDuff said:
Harry Potter, really?

Yes really. Well ハリー・ポッター to be more precise.

StorDuff said:
What was the context, like could you show me the sentence?

Not really. I gave the books away after finishing them. I think it was Snipe who used it though.

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