Seven ways to say you in Japanese

Seven ways to say “YOU” in Japanese

March 28th, 2009

Seven ways to say “you” in Japanese

Japanese uses different levels of politeness for dealing with specific situations. The vocabulary you use when speaking to your boss is different when speaking to your friends or children. One telling example of the importance the Japanese place on respect and hierarchy is found in the seven different words they have for saying “you”. Here are some examples.

あなた　 Anata

This is the politest way to say you in Japanese. Housewives also use “anata” when talking to their husbands. The plural form is “anatagata”. In some cases it can aso be a little rude, for example: あなたはどう思いますか – anata wa dou omoimasu ka – What do you think,is sometimes best not used when talking to your boss. Instead どう思いますか or 田中さんはどう思いますか would be better where you simply omit the “anata” and use the person’s name.

君　　 Kimi

Kimi is a familiar term used between friends. It is also used when speaking to children. The plural form is “kimitachi” usually used when speaking to a group of children.

お前　　 Omae

Omae is usually used by men between very good friends. As it is quite an abrupt way of saying “you” it can vary from friendly and casual to rude depending on the situation and tone you use.

あんた　 Anta

Anta is a little old fashioned these days so it is usually used by older people when speaking to friends or younger people.

われ　　 Ware

Now we are getting into the realms of fighting talk. Ware actually has a few meanings but in terms of “you” it is very abrupt and quite rude. it is usually used by angry men in Osaka.

てめえ　　Temee

Again, this is quite an aggressive way to say “you” usually used by men when tempers are flaring.

貴様　　Kisama

Interestingly enough, kisama was originally used as a term of respect. “SAMA” on its own is used as a term of respect after someone’s name. For example ありがとうございます田中様 – arigatou gozaimasu tanaka sama – Thank you very much Mr Tanaka. However, KISAMA is close to calling someone a wretch in English and best avoided if you are not looklng for a fight.

So good luck in working out which word to use. When in doubt ANATA is usually a good bet. It may be a mistake but you certainly won’t offened anybody.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 12:49 am and is filed under Japan guide. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Seven ways to say “YOU” in Japanese”

Cailean Says:

Actually, われ means “I”, not “you”, and in Osaka we prefer 俺 (おれ) when we’re angry, as われ would be too polite. Also, あんた should be grouped with あなた, as it is more of a colloquial dipthong variation of the more proper あなた and not a separate form. It is also by no means old-fashioned, although that view may differ by region.

Since that puts you down by one, you could always add この人 (このひと; lit. “this person”) to the list as another deferential way to address somebody.

It might be good to mention that てめえ also originates from more polite roots, as it comes from the polite 手前 (てまえ). As with many Japanese insults, the rudeness stems from intentionally pronouncing a polite word in a lazy way (the same goes for あんた, as improper usage can be taken as an insult as well.

The most important thing to remember about being polite in Japanese is that nothing beats addressing somebody by their name and/or title. Japanese usually avoid all forms of “you” in favor of a proper name so as not to appear cold or indifferent.

March 28th, 2009 at 11:00 am

admin Says:

Nice comments there. Thanks.

As for WARE, it can be used as “you” but I think it may be a little old fashioned.

http://jisho.org/words?jap=ware&eng=&dict=edict

March 28th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

kessa Says:

thanks for the up date on the different words. i’m new to learning Japanese and where i live i can’t find any dictionaries so that was helpful cause basically i’m accustom using あなた, 君, お前, われ and i watch anime in Japanese a lot instead of the English version and it help to understand them a little better.

i learn it on my own so basically i’m always on the computer and downloading documents and (though it makes a little more work foe me to learn) this one is great help thanks again ^-^!!!!!!

August 21st, 2011 at 12:39 am

Alex Says:

Thanks so much for visiting the site and good luck with your Japanese.

August 26th, 2011 at 7:49 am

Lauren Goff Says:

I thought it was a little weird that Rosetta Stone was trying to teach me to say “anata,” but I guess that it’s appropriate. I had always thought that it was an extremely weird thing to say to someone other than your boyfriend or husband.

Actually, if I remember correctly, Asuka said that it is weird to call someone that once. Who’s right?

January 11th, 2012 at 6:54 am

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