It’s almost always used in a short, declarative statement of some kind. My impression of this word is it has a kind of wise, sage-like feeling to it. 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). Used more commonly in it’s “we” form (我々/ wareware), ware (我) by itself and meaning just “I” is pretty uncommon, but not unheard of. Note: similarly, you can use sochira/socchi to mean “you.” Ware 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). Kocchi is much more informal and frequently used among friends.
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. Kochira is highly polite and is often used in business situations, especially one the phone. While kochira and kocchi are the same word ( kocchi is an abbreviated version), they differ pretty dramatically in how formal they are. This is another popular and versatile way to say “I.” It literally means “this way.” This is a good word for women to use if they want to be informal, but avoid the cuteness of atashi. Saying uchi for “I” is informal and has no gender connotation. Uchi (内) is one word for “I” that I didn’t learn until well after I came to Japan, but once I did I was surprised at how commonly used it was. (Well, the word does come from watashi so you might see it listed with 私 in a dictionary) Uchi It is written in either hiragana or katakana. Because kanji are generally seen as masculine, this word has no kanji form. This is an informal effeminate form of watashi.
I’ve also heard women use boku in song lyrics.Įikichi Onizuka, a character perfectly suited to saying ore. It has a more informal feeling than watashi, however, so you may want to be careful when using it with strangers, authority figures and colleagues.īoku is used primarily by men, but very young and/or boyish girls sometimes use it too. It literally means “manservant” so when you use it there is a sense that you are humbling yourself before the speaker. Bokuīoku (僕) is what you could think of as the “soft-masculine” I-word. If you watch anime or read manga, you’ll notice that this is the I-word of choice for rich characters. 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. Yes, the kanji is the same as for watashi (私) ( watashi is actually just a shortened form of watakushi). Men should take care to say “ boku mo” or use some other I-word instead. The only trap I know of is that in Japanese saying “ watashi mo” (meaning: “me too”) can come off as very effeminate if you use it in an informal situation. If you don’t know which I-word to use, this is your best bet. Watashi (私) is the standard, gender-free way to say “I” and is the first one learners are introduced to. 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. Hopefully, this list will help to prepare you for your own Japanese adventures. One of the many unique and intriguing features of Japanese is the vast selection of words you have available to choose from when you want to say “I.” Each of these words has a different connotation reflecting the speaker’s view of his/herself and their relationship to the listener.įor this article, I’m going to introduce to you my personal collection of “I” words that I’ve encountered here in Japan (even if I’ve only seen them once or twice in obscure contexts).