Brenton
Philip SharpI: First Person Pronouns
April 27th 2008 11:56
The Japanese have a number of words for ‘I’.
The main Japanese word for I is わたし (watashi). This word always goes at the beginning of a sentence where one is speaking about oneself, or ones opinion.
In some cases it may be omitted where it is obvious that you are referring to yourself. For example, in the following sentence the meaning remains the same regardless of wether the ‘watashi’ is stated or not;
(わたし は) いぬ が すき です
(Watashi wa) inu ga suki desu.
(I) like dogs.
ぼく (Boku) is used by young boys. There’s no specific age at which わたし (Watashi) becomes more appropriate, but if you’re a young male in early to late teenage years, just try to observe what those around you are doing.
おれ (often written in Katatakana in Manga; オレ) is another first person pronoun. It is quite slangy, and quite inappropriate in most polite conversation, however it is good to be aware of it.
The main Japanese word for I is わたし (watashi). This word always goes at the beginning of a sentence where one is speaking about oneself, or ones opinion.
In some cases it may be omitted where it is obvious that you are referring to yourself. For example, in the following sentence the meaning remains the same regardless of wether the ‘watashi’ is stated or not;
(わたし は) いぬ が すき です
(I) like dogs.
ぼく (Boku) is used by young boys. There’s no specific age at which わたし (Watashi) becomes more appropriate, but if you’re a young male in early to late teenage years, just try to observe what those around you are doing.
おれ (often written in Katatakana in Manga; オレ) is another first person pronoun. It is quite slangy, and quite inappropriate in most polite conversation, however it is good to be aware of it.
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