j a p a n e s e   p r o n o u n s

unlike english, japanese has a wide range of first and second person pronouns depending on who is speaking, who is being spoken to or of, and the relationship between the two--and, traditionally, has had no third person pronouns at all. because of the wide variety, people often tend to use different first and second person pronouns depending on their personality and attitude, and from a translators point of view, understanding their uses and nuances is crucial.

the word 'pronoun' is actually something of a misnomer in japanese. the words that are commonly referred to as pronouns actually function more like regular nouns in japanese--they can be freely modified by adjectives and relative clauses as in (1), and like other japanese nouns, cannot be grammatically repeated twice in the same sentence as in (2). The following examples should be helpful. Click on the japanese text for an image if your browser is not japanese-enabled.

(1)
ばかな私は漢字も習えません。
bakana watashi wa kanji mo naraemasen.
(Lit. Stupid me cannot even learn kanji. (=Because I'm so stupid, I can't learn kanji.))

若いあなたにはまだ分からないでしょう。
wakai anata ni wa mada wakaranai deshou.
(Lit. Young you probably won't understand it. (=Since you're young, you probably won't understand.)

(2)
WRONG: 私は私の部屋で私の漫画を読みたい。
watashi wa watashi no heya de watashi no manga o yomitai.
RIGHT: 私は部屋で漫画を読みたい。
watashi wa heya de manga o yomitai.
(I want to read my manga in my room.)

first-person pronouns

the basic polite first-person singular pronoun in japanese is 私 (watakushi). watakushi is very formal, and in fact is rarely used when speaking under normal circumstances. it has at least five or six contracted forms, the most common of which are:

私【わたし】
watashi (slightly formal, but very common)
あたし
atashi (feminine form of watashi, very common)
わし or わっし
washi or wasshi (used by older men)

in addition, there are a handful of other first-person pronouns for more informal situations...

僕 【ぼく】
boku is used primarily by young japanese boys, but it is also often used by young adult males among other men, or by young men who simply don't care. it's also sometimes used intimately. for instance, i use boku when talking to mari or my friends, but watashi when talking to her friends or anyone else. kagami mikage also almost always uses boku.

拙者 【せっしゃ】
sessha is an archaic form which any rurou ni kenshin fan will be familiar with. you'll see it in samurai manga/anime sometimes, but not often elsewhere. (linguistic note: sessha literally means "this clumsy oaf")

second-person pronouns

in japanese, the most polite way to refer to someone else is by their name, followed by an appropriate honorific. whereas in english you usually don't use the other person's name when you're talking to them, in japanese it's actually very common. for instance:

田中さんの犬ですね？
tanaka-san no inu desu ne?
(That's your [Tanaka's] dog, isn't it?)

it's also common, especially in business or formal situations, to refer to someone by their occupation. for example:

昨日私は弁護士さんと話しました。
kinou watashi wa bengoshi-san to hanashimashita.
(Lit. Yesterday I spoke with lawyer-san. (=I spoke with my attorney yesterday.)

あなた
anata is relatively multipurpose. it's not necessarily impolite, although it does assume a degree of familiarity. a way to make it more polite (almost formal) is to tack the 様 (sama) honorific onto it. calling someone あなた様 (anatasama) is usually only acceptable if you must be polite/formal but don't know the person's name or title. anata is also how a married couple might refer to each other (much like the words "dear" or "honey" in english).

君 【きみ】
kimi isn't casual, but it's not exactly respectful either. it tends to assume a degree of psychological or status distance between the speaker and the listener--more specifically, a position of authority--and often comes across sounding cold, distant, indifferent, or abrupt. it's generally okay to address a small child as kimi, so it comes across sounding very condescending when used to an adult. kagami mikage, unsurprisingly, uses kimi almost exclusively when speaking to others.

お前 【おまえ】
omae assumes a much higher degree of familiarity than anata does. the kanji literally means "the person before me". usually used by men and boys, but can be used by women as well. if used among lovers, it can sound intimate and romantic (mari told me a story about a boyfriend she had when she was a teenager, who began calling her omae the moment they started going out). however, if used with a stranger or someone not within your personal circle, it's can be quite rude depending on the situation and tone of voice.

あんた
anta is a very casual contraction of anata which is usually only used by women. it's not especially rude when speaking to your friends or lover, but it is very casual. men shouldn't use anta unless they want to be really rude or sound really odd.

己 【おのれ】
onore is rude--flat out rude. most of the time, when you hear someone being called something vulgar or profane in an accurate english translation of a japanese work, it's because the speaker was employing onore or one of the many other ways of being rude in spoken japanese. good translations for onore are 'bastard', 'a**hole', or your choice of other colorful english nouns. according to mari, onore sounds somewhat archaic or old to her, and you'll see it more in samurai flicks and other stories about older times (such as mononoke hime). in modern circles, teme is a more common insult.

てめ
teme isn't just rude, it's vulgar. it's equivalent to calling a woman a bitch in terms of rudeness.

貴様 【きさま】 things don't get much ruder than kisama. it's equivalent (in terms of vulgarity) to calling someone a motherf****r in english.

third-person pronouns

until recently, third person pronouns in japanese did not exist--and in many cases, the ones that now exist still aren't used. in most cases where one might use he/she/it in english, the pronoun is simply omitted in japanese. for example:

マリーは今日学校へ行きましたか。
Marii wa kyou gakkou e ikimashita ka.
(Did Marie go to school today?)

いいえ、風邪をひいていますんだ。
Iie, kaze o hiteimasu n da.
(No, [she] has a cold.)

あのうね、山田君はパーティーへきますか。
Anou ne, Yamada-kun wa paatii e kimasu ka.
(Oh hey, is Yamada coming to the party?)

いや、忙しすぎるんだ。
Iya, isogashisugiru n da.
(Nah, [he's] too busy.)

すみません、葉山先生。猫が食べた。
Sumimasen, Hayama-sensei. Neko ga tabeta.
(Sorry, Miss Hayama. My cat ate it.)

in recent decades, a few new words have sprung up and entered common usage, although they're usually used to refer to people from who the speaker feels a significant degree of psychological or geographical distance. in situations where there is any familiarity at all, the person's name or apposition should usually be used. it should be noted that there is no japanese equivalent for the english word it (although kore/sore/are are often used for the same purpose).

彼 【かれ】
kare is used to refer to a male subject in the third person. it's sometimes used to refer to one's boyfriend, or to someone who isn't present but who is the topic of conversation.

彼女 【かのじょ】
kanojo is used much like kare, except it refers to a female subject.

あいつ
aitsu, unlike kare and kanojo, is somewhat impolite/impersonal. it's closer in meaning to "that guy/girl/dude/chick" than to "he/she", and is sometimes considered rude towards the subject. Together with soitsu and koitsu, it forms the familiar A-So-Ko triad.

plurality

most nouns in japanese do not get modified for plurality. 猫は黒いです (neko ga kuroi desu) can mean "the cat is black" or "the cats are black", for example. japanese pronouns, however, have special rules. adding 〜達 (-tachi) to the end of most pronouns will make them plural, as will 〜ら (-ra) in a much more casual way. for example:

僕らはパブへビルを飲みに行た。
Bokura wa pabu e biru o nomi ni itta.
(My friends and I went to the pub to drink beer.)

君達はもう話せないな。
Kimitachi wa mou hanasenai na.
(None of you may speak further!)