The Different Ways to Say "I" in Japanese

How do you say "I" in your language?

In English, it's simply, "I".

In Chinese, it's 我 (wo).

In Japanese, mm.. there are a few... so which are you referring to?

Today, I would share with on the different ways to refer to "I" in Japanese. This has always intrigued me, since I started learning Japanese. :)

Most common of all is 私 (watashi わたし)
This is most commonly use in textbooks, conversation, and perhaps, I would say, it forms the baseline. The neutral form of referring to "I".

The reason why there are different ways to refer to "I" is because the level of politeness differ. That then depends on how close the relationship between the speaker and the listener is, the context (situation, for eg is it in a business scenario, speech scenario, etc). And 私 is the neutral one, it's polite, yet not too polite. Hence it is also the first "I" form that new learners encounter in their Japanese textbook.

Through anime and drama, you would probably encounter the following forms of "I":

あたし (atashi)
Reserved only for female speakers. It has a cute (kawaii) nuance to it.

うち
I haven't really encounter this in anime or drama, but heard my students (in Japan, while I was on JET) using this to refer to themselves. This is again usually used by female speakers, usually by girls (before marriageable age), as shared by my Japanese colleague when I asked her about it.

僕 (boku ぼく)
Reserved only for male speakers (usually). This is a less polite way of referring to "I". Only used when the relationship between the speaker and the listener is close, or when the speaker is superior to the listener. (superiority here means in rank - for eg. at work, seniority -for eg. age, family: elder brother to younger sister)

わし
Usually used by old men.

俺 (ore おれ)
Reserved for male speakers only. This is even more less polite way of referring to "I". Again, only when the relationship between the speaker and the listener is close, or when the speaker is superior to the listener.

俺様 (oresama　おれさま)
Probably the most impolite way of referring to "I". This form is used when the speaker is trying to impress upon the listener that he is superior to him, and hence implying that he should take his consequent advice.

On the other spectrum, we have the more polite form:

わたくし (wata kushi)
This is a very polite form, used for formal situations, eg. business meeting, speeches, etc. And it is for all speakers, regardless of gender.


How about referring to "we"?

私たち (watashi tachi わたしたち)
Again like 私, 私たち is the baseline/ neutral form of referring to "we".

われわれ (ware ware)
This is the more polite and formal form, which is often used in business, speech, etc situations.

Interested to find out other uncommon forms of referring to "I"? Check out Nihonshock's blogpost.

And by the way, this treatment is not exclusive to "I", there are different forms for "you", too. :P

Survivor Japanese for First-Timers in Japan

Do not know Japanese? Totally clueless about the strange strokes and characters on the signages and packagings in Japan? But still bent on visiting Japan?


嵐 is the travel ambassadors for Japan this year.

Fret not, here's a short post on some really basic Japanese phrases or words you can look out for during your first trip in Japan.

For a start...

1. The Japanese have a special system of characters called, Katakana, which is used for words they borrowed from other languages, in particular, English. Hence, you can try to katagana-nise English words for a start, and they just might be able to guess what you are trying to convey.

For example, instead of

• MacDonald's, say "Meh-ku-do-naa-"
• supermarket, say "su-paa-"
• beer, say "bi-ru-"

*note, I am trying to write as they sounds here, so they are not the romaji spellings of actual Japanese words.

TIP

Words that end with k, becomes "ku"; words that end with "t" becomes "toh" and words that end with "d" becomes "doh".

Greetings...

2. And if you do not know yet, the most basic greetings:

• お早う ohayou = Good Morning!
• こんにちは konnichiwa = Good Afternoon! / Hi!
• こんばんは konbanwa = Good Evening!
• おやすみ oyasumi = Good Night!
• ありがとう　arigatou = Thank you
• どういたしまして dou itashimashite = You're welcome
• すみません sumimasen = sorry/ excuse me
• ごめんなさい　gomenasai = I'm very sorry
• いらしゃいませ irashaimase = welcome (in shops, etc)

TIP

To express different degrees of gratitude, here are different ways to say "thank you". It's easy to remember, the longer it is, the more polite it is.

(with increasing gratitude:)

• ありがとう　arigatou
• ありがあとう　ございます　arigatou gozaimasu
• ども　ありがとう　ございます　domo arigatou gozaimasu

Eating out...

3. Some basic vocabulary associated with food, which would be useful when you are ordering food at restaurants or cafes.

• たっぷり tappuri - with a lot of
• 野菜 yasai - vegetables
• 肉 niku = meat
• 牛肉 gyuu niku/ ビフ bifu = beef
• 豚肉 buta niku = pork
• 魚 sakana = fish
• 刺身 sashimi = raw (fish, usually)
• 寿司 sushi
• 鰻 man = eel/ also known as unagi
• わさび　wasabi
• 食べ放題 tabehoudai = buffet for food
• 飲み放題 nomihoudai = buffet for drinks

鰻 is a specialty of Hamamatsu.

TIP

To order sushi without wasabi, say わさび抜き wasabi nuki.

4. At restaurants or cafes, the serving staff may ask you "お召し上がり omeshiagari" or "お持ち帰り omochikaeri" at the end of your order. お召し上がり means eating here and お持ち帰り means take-away.

Shopping...

5. During shopping, staff may ask if you need a bag to put your purchases. Here, the keyword is 袋 fukuro. For some shops, especially supermarkets, additional costs will be incurred if you need a bag for your purchases. This is because Japan is trying to promote a greener environment, by encouraging everyone to bring their own bag when shopping.

6. Hence for such instances or other similar instances like (ポイントカードはお持ちですか? pointo kaado wa omochi desu ka? Do you have a point card?) when you do not need these additional services, you can say "けっこうです kekkou desu".

7. To ask for the price, say いくらですか？ ikura desu ka?
8. When requesting for something, always add either ください kudasai or お願いします onegaishimasu at the end of the sentence. They mean "please".

9. Decided on something to buy, and would like to ask for a new piece? Here, use "新品がありますか？ shinpin ga arimasu ka?" This phrase means "Do you have a new piece?"

10. A useful word for shopaholics would be 割引 waribiki, which means discount. The word for "sale" is セル, but shops often use the English word "SALE", in caps, too. :) 半値 han ne/ 半価 han ka = half price!

11. Sometimes you will spot the word "限定 gentei" on packagings, especially for food items. It means these products are only for the season or area. For example, special matcha flavoured kit-kats for Kyoto or sakura-flavoured prawn crackers only for spring season.

Getting around...

12. どこ？ "Doko" which means where is probably one of the most useful word.

Eg. Where is the train station?
駅はどこですか？
eki wa doko desu ka?

駅 eki = train station
So the basic structure would be _____ はどこですか？ where you insert the place you would like to go in the blank. You can replace that with pointing a certain location on a map as well.

13. And other useful words for getting around

• ホテル hoteru = hotel
• お手洗い otearai / トイレ toire = toilet
• 駅 eki = station
• バス亭 basu tei = bus stop
• タクシー takushii = taxi
• 地図 chizu = map
• レストラン resutoran = restaurant
• コンビニ　konbini = convenience store
• 販売機 hanbaiki = vending machine
• 新幹線 shinkansen = bullet-train
• 電車 densha = train

14. And when seeking directions, besides remembering the gestures, you can try to catch these keywords as well:

• ますぐ masugu = go straight
• 左 hidari = left
• 右 migi = right
• 前 mae = in front
• 後ろ ushiro = behind
• 向こう mukou = opposite, across from here
• 次の信号 tsugi no shingou = the next traffic light

15. The 3 important words to remember when boarding trains:

• 発 hatsu = depart from
• 着き tsuki = arrive at
• 行き yuki = going in the direction of

That's all for this post! Do drop a comment if you have other phrases you would like to know. I will try my best to help. :) Have fun exploring Japan for the first time! :D

P.S: Getting interested in the Japanese language? You can pick up some basic grammar structures here.

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 26

I've decided to revamp the "Japanese Language Made Simpler" a little.
Instead of focusing on a new particle in each lesson, it shall go topical.

And today's topic is "Question Words", the 5'W's and 1'H'.

A brief overview of the question words and their translations:

• What - なに/ なん
• Where - どこ
• When　－　いつ
• Why　-　どうして
• Who　-　だれ
• Which - どちら
• How　-　どうやって/ どう

The examples of how each question word is used.
*Do note that the question will end with 'か'　for all questions in polite form.

What

1. What is your name?
お名前は何ですか？
oname wa nan desu ka?

2. What happened over here?
何がおこった？
nani ga okotta?

Where

1. Where were you just now?
あなたはさっきどこにいましたか？
anata wa sakki doko ni imashita ka?

2. Where is the toilet?
お手洗いはどこですか？
otearai wa doko desu ka?

When

1. When is your birthday?
お誕生日はいつですか？
otanjoubi wa itsu desu ka?

Why

1. Why are you studying Japanese?
どうして日本語を勉強しているんですか？
doshite nihongo o benkyou shiteirun desu ka?

Who

1. Who are you looking for?
(Direct translation of the Japanese phrase: Who do you want to see?)
誰に会いたいのですか？
dare ni aitai no desu ka?

2. Who is that lady?
あの女の人は誰ですか？
ano onna no hito wa dare desu ka?

Which

1. Which way leads to the library?
図書館はどちらですか？
toshokan wa dochira desu ka?

2. Which do you prefer, beef or pork?
牛肉と豚肉のどちらが好きですか？
gyuu niku to buta niku no dochira ga suki desu ka?

How

1. How did he come?
彼はどうやって来ましたか？
kare wa douyatte kimashita ka?

2. How about another cup of coffee?
コーヒーをもう一杯どうですか？
koohii o mou ihhai dou desu ka?

Learning Japanese the iPhone way #2

With the dictionary, now it's time to download iPhone applications which provide more structured learning of the Japanese language.

I've tried 3 free iPhone applications. 2 of which are Lite versions, and full versions are available, too, at some costs. While the last one is a full free application.

Japanese Phrases

This free application concentrates mainly on vocabulary, with its huge bank of study cards.

However, I like the lessons offered as well. For beginners, there are basic lessons such as the the 3 types of characters in Japanese - hiragana, katagana and kanji. Followed by verb usage, to counters and even polite "Mr/Ms" enders (when to use -san, -chan, -sama, etc).

I particularly liked the flash card bank and the quiz function. Clear audio of the word's pronunciation is provided, and you can also flip the card to view the meaning of the newly learned vocabulary. Categories of the vocabulary include hiragana/ katagana characters, numbers, conversational phrases, slang to even proverbs. I especially liked proverbs... that's something new which an intermediate learner can pick up from. (Since there aren't many applications developed for intermediate/advanced learners. Let alone free ones.)

In addition, you can refresh your knowledge by quizzing yourself. A random set of 15 words will then be selected from the selected topic for each quiz.



Pocket Japanese - Beginner
If you prefer passage style, like school-based learning, this is the application for you. It adapts from the podcast, Japanese Pod 101 . From the passage, there is line-by-line audio revision, explanation of each line, and even grammar and vocabulary lessons based on selected phrases/ sentences from the passage.


Line-by-line audio


Flash cards based on new vocabulary

For the lite version, only one lesson is offered though.

Japanese Word of the Day
Need to build up more vocabulary? Use this iPhone application. Each new vocabulary is expressed in hiragana, and the meaning in English is also provided. There is no audio though.



This application reminds me of my twitter series, A Japanese Word A Day :)

Yup, so that's all for today's review. I shall post more reviews when I've tried other applications. Have fun learning Japanese! :)

Learning Japanese the iPhone way #1

Recently I've joined the iPhone club as well, as more and more of my friends and colleagues become enthusiastic ambassadors of iPhones, a possible side-effect of new owners. :P

Just as enthusiastic, I immediately tried downloading Japanese learning applications from the App Store, too, after I've downloaded the essentials like Facebook, Plurk, Tweetdeck, etc.

There are dozens of iPhone applications on learning Japanese language, but mostly they are paid applications. Currently, my reviews are on some selected free applications. They were picked mostly based on the users' reviews provided by the App Store, hence, there might be many good ones outta which I've missed. I shall update as I stumble upon other useful Japanese learning applications.

To kick-start, let's begin with dictionaries. A must-have for all foreign language learners!

The application you MUST get...

This application.. long before the iPhone craze started, I've seen ex-classmates using on their iTouch, and is deeply fascinated by it. It is so much like a functional dictionary which costs hundreds of dollars, and probably needs to be bought in Japan itself. There aren't many places selling electronic Japanese dictionaries in Singapore, especially the ones which has handwriting recognition.

And.. the application is Kotoba! A fully functional English-Japanese dictionary. Occasionally it offers other languages as well in the explanations. Here's how to use Kotaba!:

1. Either type the English/ romanji term in the search bar.

OR

Type in the hiragana term.

OR

Write the kanji term:

2. Select "Search"

3. Vola... here's the searched result, it has sample sentences as well:

This is the only bilingual dictionary that I've downloaded on my iPhone so far. Go, give it a try.

In my next entry, I will cover on 2 language learning applications for beginners. They provide more structured lesson plans. Stay tuned! :)

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 25

How to express "accompaniment", like I went shopping with my mum?
We use the particle "と" in this case.

The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[person]と[action] = did [action] together with [person]

For example:

• I went shopping with my mum. = watashi wa haha to isshoni kaimono shimashita. = 私は母と一緒に買い物しました。(isshoni = together with)
  

• I always quarrel with my younger brother. = itsumo otouto to kenka shimasu . = いつも弟とけんかします。(itsumo = always, kenka shimasu = quarrel)
  

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 24

Fourthly, the particle 'で' is used to express reason.

The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[reason] で= because of [reason]
[reason] has to be a noun.

For example:

• I have a headache because of a cold. = kaze de atama ga itai desu. = 風で頭が痛いです。(kaze=cold/flu, atama=head, itai=painful)
  

• I did not do gardening because of the rain. = ame de niwa o soji shimasendeshita. = 雨で庭を掃除しませんでした。(ame= rain, niwa=garden, souji shimasu= clean up)
  

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 23

Thirdly, the particle 'で' is used to express "made of/ from".

The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[ingredient] で[verb eg. make- 作ります]
= made of/ from [ingredient]

For example:

• This bridge is made of stone. = kono hashi wa ishi de dekiteimasu. = この橋は石でできています。(hashi = bridge)
  

• Cheese is made from milk. = chiizuwa gyuunyuu de tsukurimasu. = チーズは牛乳で作ります。(chiizu = cheese, gyuunyuu = milk)
  

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 22

The particle 'で' can also be used to express the means of transport/ tool or language used.

For example:

• came here by taxi= takushi de kimasu =タクシできます
• eat with chopsticks= hashi de tabemasu = はしで食べます
• write using Japanese= nihongo de kakimasu = 日本語で書きます

The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[transport/tool/language] で[verb]
= [verb] by/ using [transport/tool/language]

Other examples:

• I go to work by car. = watashi wa kurma de kaisha he ikimasu. = 私は車で会社へ行きます。(kaisha = company)
  

• Please write with a pencil. = enpitsu de kaite kudasai. = 鉛筆で書いてください。
• I made a speech in Japanese. = nihongo de supiichi o shimashita. = 日本語でスピーチをしました。(supiichi = speech)
  

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 21

How to express the location that an action is done? The particle 'で' is used.

The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[place] で[verb]
= [verb] at [place]

For example:
eating at home= uchi de tabemasu = 家で食べます
Hence,
My father is eating at home now. = chichi wa uchi de tabeteimasu. = 父は家で食べています。

Other examples:

• I bought stamps at the post office. = watashi wa yuubinkyoku de kitte o kaimashita. = 私は郵便局で切手を買いました。(yuubinkyoku = post office; kitte = stamp)
  

• He is working in Japan. = kare wa nihon de hataraiteimasu. = 彼は日本で働いています。

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 20

To show the place of arrival, we also use the particle に.

The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[place of arrival] に [verb] =
[verb: reached/ arrived] at [place]

A) Commonly, に is used together with verbs like

• boarding a vehicle (乗ります)
• entering a room ( 入ります)
• arriving/ reaching a venue (着きます)

For example:

• I got on a taxi in front of the station. = eki no mae de takushii ni norimashita. = 駅の前でたくしいに乗りました。
• The aeroplane arrived at the airport. = hikouki wa kuukou ni tsukimashita. = 飛行機は空港に着きました。 (kuukou = airport)
  

B) Sometimes, the concept of "place of arrival" can be a little more abstract, whereby the subject is not a person, but an object instead.

For instance, when we describe giving a present to another person, the subject of the sentence will be the "present". Hence, the place of arrival of the present in this scenario will be the person we are giving the present to.

Verbs commonly used in this scenario would be

• giving (あげます)
• lending (貸します)
• sending (送ります)
• teaching (教えます)
• making a phone call (電話をかけます)

The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[person (receiving the subject)] に [subject] を[verb]=
[verb: eg. giving] [subject] to [person (receiving the subject)]

For example:

• I gave flowers to my mother. = watashi wa haha ni hana o agemashita. = 私は母に花をあげました。(hana = flowers)
• My senior taught me Japanese. = senpai wa watashi ni nihongo o oshiemashita. = 先輩は私に日本語を教えました。
  

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 19

For this lesson, we are going to explore another usage of に: to show the place where something or someone is at/ exists.

To express living things, like animals and people:
The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[someone] は [place] に [います]
= [someone] is at [place]

For example:
Mr Tan is in the office. = tan san wa jimusho ni imasu = タンさんは事務所にいます。

*For other examples on how to use います- form, refer to Lesson 14.

To express non-living things and plants:
The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[place] に [something] があります
= there is [something] at [place]

For example:
There are apples on the desk. = tsuku e no ue ni ringo ga arimasu. = 机の上にりんごがあります。(tsukue = desk, ue = on top of, ringo = apple)

*For other examples on how to use あります- form, refer to Lesson 13.

As a general rule: [place] is placed before [に]

Other examples:

• Singapore is at the south of Malaysia. = shingapooru wa mareeshia no minami ni arimasu = シンガポールはマレーシアの南にあります。(minami = south)
  
• My older sister lives in Tokyo = ane wa toukyou ni sundeimasu. = 姉は東京に住んでいます。(sundeimasu = is living in)

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 18

The 4th particle, we are going to cover today is に, to express the time when an action is taking/ has taken place.

The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[time] に[action - eg: wake up]
= [action eg: wake up] at [time]

For example:
wakes up at 8 o'clock= hachi ji ni okimasu = 八時に起きます
Hence,
I wake up at 8 o'clock. = watashi wa hachi ji ni okimasu . = 私は八時に起きます。

Other examples:

• When do you sleep? = nan ji ni nemasu ka? = 何時に寝ますか。(nemasu = sleep)

• My mother was born in 1948. = haha wa 1948 nen ni umaremashita. = 母は1948年に生まれました。(umaremasu = is given birth to)

*The above is not applicable to special time nouns such as: 明日 (tomorrow)、今日 (today)、来週 (next week), etc. "に" is omitted. For eg:

I am going to school tomorrow. = watashi wa ashita gakkou e ikimasu. = 私は明日学校へ行きます。

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 17

The third particle, we are going to cover is へ, which is used to express places the subject is going/ coming towards.

The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[place] へ[action - eg: go, come]
= [action eg: go, come] to [place]

For example:
go to the airport= kuukou he ikimasu = 空港へ行きます

Hence,
My father went to the airport. = chichi wa kuukou he ikimashita. = 父は空港へ行きました。

Other examples:

• I want to go to Japan. = watashi wa nihon he ikitai. = 私は日本へ行きたい。
  Refer to Lesson 6 on how to form tai-verbs to express wants.
  

• The aeroplane is flying towards the west. = hikouki wa nishi he tondeimasu. = 飛行機は西へ飛んでいます。(hikouki= aeroplane, nishi= west, tobimasu= fly)

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 16

The second particle, we are going to cover today is と, which is used to combine nouns.

The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[object A] と [object B]
= [object A] and [object B]

For example:
cat and dog= neko to inu = 猫と犬

Hence,
I like cats and dogs. = watashi wa neko to inu ga suki desu. = 私は猫と犬が好きです。
(to form 'like' and 'dislike' sentences, refer to Lesson 5)

Other examples:

• Miss A and Mr B are good friends. = A san to B san wa nakayoshi desu. = A さんとBさんは仲よしです。(nakayoshi = good friends)

• I have 3 sons and 2 daughters. = watashi wa musuko ga sannin to musume ga futari imasu. = 私は息子が三人と娘が二人います。(musuko = son; musume = daughter)

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 15

From this week onwards, we will touch on the basic particles used in forming Japanese sentences. Today's focus will be on を, which is used to show the object used for the action.

The structure of the phrase will be in this form:
[object] を [action]
= [object] o [action]
= [action] [object]

For example:
eat apple = ringo o tabemasu = りんごを食べます

Hence,
I eat an apple. = watashi wa hitotsu ringo o tabemasu. = 私は一つりんごを食べます。

Other examples:

• The cat is drinking milk. = neko wa gyunyuu o nonde imasu. = 猫は牛乳を飲んでいます。(gyunyuu = milk)
  

• Who is studying Japanese? = dare ga nihongo o benkyou shiteimasu ka. = 誰が日本語を勉強していますか。(benkyou = study)
  

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 14

In the last lesson, we have learnt that "あります" can be used to express existence of a non-living object or a plant, so how about subjects, like animals and people? Today, we will touch on "います" and how it is being used.

[place] に [noun] がいます。
= [place] ni [noun] ga imasu.
= There is/ are [noun] at [place]
*[noun] must be a living thing.

• There are many fishes in the sea. = umi ni takusan sakana ga imasu. = 海にたくさん魚がいます。(umi= sea; takusan= many; sakana= fish)

• I will not be at home tomorrow. = ashita wa uchi ni imasen. = 明日はうちにいません。(uchi = home, imasen = negative form of imasu, not in existence)

Japanese Language Made Simpler- Lesson 13

In the last lesson, "あります" is used to express what a person has/ what I have. "あります" can also be used to express existence of a non-living thing or a plant. Here's how:

[place] に [noun] があります。
= [place] ni [noun] ga arimasu.
= There is/ are [noun] at [place]
*[noun] must be a non-living object/ plant.

• There are many boxes in this room. = kono heya ni takusan hako ga arimasu. = この部屋にたくさん箱があります。(heya= room; takusan= many; hako= box)




• There is a pencil on the table. = teberu no ue ni ippon enpitsu ga arimasu. = テベルの上に一本エンピツがあります。(teberu= table; ue= top; ippon= 1 long object - *it's a counter; enpitsu= pencil)

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 12

Last lesson - Lesson 11, ended the series on expression of wants for both ourselves and also for third parties. Today, we will touch on another simple expression, how to use 'have/ has' in japanese sentences.

[person] は [noun] があります。
= [person] wa [noun] ga arimasu.
= [person] has/ have [noun]

• He has a girlfriend. = kare wa koibito ga arimasu. = 彼は恋人があります。(koibito= lover/ boyfriend/ girlfriend)




• I have an old radio. = watashi wa furui rajio ga arimasu. = 私は古いラジオがあります。(rajio = radio)

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 11

Here's another way to express a third party's wants- using がります. In contrast with Lesson 10, which is specific to wanting a particular thing (noun), this lesson will focus on actions.

[3rd person] は [xx expressed in たい-form, without い] がっています。
= [3rd person] wa [xx expressed in tai-form, without i) garimasu.
= [3rd person] want to [xx].

• He wants to go to Japan = kare wa nihon e ikitagatteimasu. = 彼は日本へ行きたがっています。(nihon = Japan)



• The child wants to play = Sono ko wa asobitagatteimasu. = その子は遊びたがっています。

*For more information on how to change the verbs to [tai-form], refer to Lesson 6.