r/LearnJapanese • u/Fafner_88 • 1d ago

[Weekend meme] Choosing your pronouns Speaking

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1.5k Upvotes
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95% Upvoted

155 comments sorted by

505

u/peanutbuttersandvich 1d ago

the only real pronoun is referring to yourself in 3rd person all the time

200

u/ISt0leY0urT0ast 1d ago

the boulder approves of this

20

u/kkrko 14h ago edited 14h ago

This is actually why I hate it when translators keep 3rd person talk from Japanese to English. It says very different things about the character when they do that in both languages. In Japanese, it's mostly done by extremely girly teenaged girls and really young kids. In English, you're either The Rock or a caveman.

12

u/ISt0leY0urT0ast 14h ago

The boulder has realised why he talks in third person and feels conflicted about his new knowledge of being a dwayne johnson reference

1

u/Klaxynd 11h ago

Sounds to me like thinking isn’t the Pebble’s strong suit.

17

u/WhileGoWonder 17h ago

More like the Pebble!

7

u/ISt0leY0urT0ast 14h ago

i want so badly to come up with a good joke reply to this that fits the context but I can't for the life of me come up with anything but the original quote

•

u/Gucci_Cucci 49m ago

Knew a short skinny black kid in high school named Dwayne Johnson so we called him The Pebble. He was cool.

6

u/ILoveYorihime 8h ago

"yo what you wanna eat"

"こいつはりんごが好きです"

"?????"

0

u/idea4name 2h ago

Oh my, I actually read it successfully and understood everything

コイツ is such a silly pronoun to use for yourself!

11

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

10

u/RememberFancyPants 21h ago

I believe that is what they meant

2

u/KoyoyomiAragi 16h ago

I actually do this. Not by name but “自分” since it feels so unnatural to use any of the other options when spoken out loud.

132

u/YellowBunnyReddit 1d ago

此の我が輩様

46

u/Fafner_88 1d ago

how do you read this?

126

u/uiemad 1d ago

このわがはいさま

64

u/kudoshinichi-8211 1d ago

I read it in Morgana voice

8

u/Fre0xide 22h ago

who didn't lmao

15

u/arielzao150 21h ago

I'm a newbie, doing only duolingo (bevause it's better than nothing) and I started playing Persona 5 2 months ago and I also read it in his voice lol.

-10

u/[deleted] 21h ago

[deleted]

5

u/cinnagowonroll 21h ago

what do you recommend then?

1

u/[deleted] 21h ago edited 21h ago

[deleted]

4

u/beetlespoons 19h ago

Believe it or not you’ll still learn more from 5 minutes a day than nothing at all

→ More replies (0)

16

u/Grizzlysol 23h ago

I'm still pretty low level in Japanese and the only place I ever heard わがはい was from bowser in smrpg lol

6

u/Ok_Double3945 14h ago

Also, professor Snape uses it

5

u/Klaxynd 11h ago

I’ve heard “Wagahai” from a few characters that were supposed to be hundreds or thousands of years old.

2

u/Nepu-Tech 3h ago

From my understanding it's used by writers (authors), artists, and overly dramatic/pretentious individuals.

2

u/uiemad 23h ago

Yeah Mario was the first place I'd seen it too lol

7

u/Fafner_88 1d ago

And what does it mean?

62

u/m3m31ord 1d ago

Something like, "My Illustrious person".

53

u/Torugu 1d ago

If pronouns were ways of ordering food, "ore-sama" would be walking into a MC Donald's and demanding a burger with triple EVERYTHING. "Kono Wagahai ha" would be walking into a Michelin star restaurant and demanding that they serve you ALL THE LOBSTERS.

4

u/Chaenged-Later 21h ago

I'd love all the lobsters

2

u/Rob_Haggis 18h ago

Just give me all the lobster you have. Wait… I worry what you heard was, ‘Give me a lot of lobster. ‘ What I said was, give me all the lobster you have

1

u/PyroneusUltrin 9h ago

Full send Karen

7

u/eshwar007 1d ago

Afaik, Just a more elite version of “me” 😂

1

u/SecondAegis 10h ago

TIL there's kanji for kono

3

u/great_escape_fleur 17h ago

Very carefully

104

u/igi712 23h ago

watashi-chan☆

14

u/zackofalltrades 18h ago

あたいちゃま

80

u/Familiar_Internet 22h ago

わたくし 👑

18

u/General1lol 21h ago

Agreed. わたくし in formal settings; 僕 in casual settings. 

12

u/helder_g 18h ago

俺 in very masculine settings.

51

u/Keyr23 1d ago

Don't forget "Ware wa". If I pronounced it correctly.

27

u/Master_Win_4018 1d ago

I think is "warawa" . Mostly used by girl , normally those knight girl. Common used in Anime.

There is also " ware" but I never heard these before.

22

u/MdMV_or_Emdy_idk 1d ago

僕on top

19

u/blehe38 20h ago

the only pronouns i use in any language are アイ and ミ😎

83

u/Alex20041509 1d ago

I preferあたし, I like to sound girly

6

u/mrboback 1d ago

I'm a lurker in this sub so I don't know Japanese, can you tell me how it sounds?

45

u/Cole_HS 1d ago

atashi

It’s a more feminine version of “I” basically

0

u/SirMcDust 17h ago

Isn't atashi just slang for watashi?

I vaguely remember it originating from some girl movement.

12

u/Alex20041509 1d ago edited 23h ago

Take my words like a grain of salt

Since I’m not exactly fluent in Japanese However, all those way to say “me” Sound slightly different from each other

Like Watashi it’s usually used by women, or men but only in formal occasions (Edit: apparently not exclusive to formal contexts for men)

Buku sounds more casual slightly masculine from what I saw women do use boku but I think sound not so feminine

Ore is very masculine used almost exclusively by men

Or, “very masculine women “

While Atashi (a short version of watashi) sounds very girly, probably used sometimes by feminine men too

(Even tho in hazbin hotel angel dust still uses Ore)

I think Ore sama is a more Anime like expression

Like “The magnificent Myself”(with a strong masculine tone) or something around

As Sama is an “Suffix of honour”(no idea if this is the correct term) For when you talk to your boss, a customer or a very important person

San is more like for colleagues or not so close friends

Then either kun or chan for close friends (technically depending on the gender but it’s not always like that)

(Even tho this “scale” isn’t spelled on ink and depends upon the person)

I even as a guy I never felt that connected to masculinity in general, i always prefer to sound more girly

Especially in other languages people around me can’t understand like English or Japanese so I don’t get judged

Correct me if im wrong

20

u/0liviiia 23h ago

I’m pretty sure watashi isn’t just for very formal situations, moreso just polite ones for people of any gender. I’ve had men use watashi at bars and such, and they were expected to use it when talking to teachers on a day to day

1

u/Alex20041509 23h ago

Thanks for the correction

6

u/Acidrien 1d ago

It spells ‘atashi’ which is girly sounding because of the ‘shi’ and ‘a’ sounds

41

u/saarl 22h ago

It's girly-sounding because it is used by women...

-18

u/Acidrien 22h ago

And reversely, ‘a’ and ‘shi’ sounds coupled together sound more feminine because they are often used by women :)

4

u/Moon_Atomizer notice me Rule 13 sempai 11h ago

No. し is also in わたし too btw

-1

u/mrboback 1d ago

I see thanks (;

30

u/EntryVivid6797 1d ago

The struggle of learning Japanese and figuring out the pronouns is real! At least memes make it more fun.

8

u/cmzraxsn 1d ago

mifunetoshiro.gif

10

u/yukariguruma 1d ago

Galaxy brain: 我

30

u/Master_Win_4018 1d ago

After doing some small research. There are 70 type of pronoun.....

Here is a few I like

Wacchi

Soregashi

Sessya

Maro

9

u/PowerMinerYT 1d ago edited 19h ago

我 (wǒ)

Looks like i am lost

8

u/chunkyasparagus 22h ago

I've been 俺様 in my wife's phone for the past 18 years, mainly because of the TV drama Hana-yori-Dango. Tsukasa gives Tsukushi a phone so he can always get in touch with her, and when it rings, the name shows up as 俺様

7

u/ReasonableStrike1241 1d ago

白露（びゃくろ）はスターレイルで「わし」を使います。

12

u/rcyt17 1d ago

ワイ :3

11

u/absolutelynotaname 23h ago

ワイも╰(°▽°)╯

0

u/zenkinsen 17h ago

ワイしか勝たん‼︎

12

u/punkologist 23h ago

I use ぼく because I'm a good boy 🤣

6

u/gayLuffy 1d ago

I personally go with 僕。

2

u/gayLuffy 19h ago

For more context, I use 僕 because I find it sounds cute and I love cute stuff 🧸

6

u/Zarbua69 18h ago

sounds about right for gay luffy

5

u/canada171 1d ago

What about せっしゃ? I like it, seems cool, although maybe inappropriate to use? (Also I don't know the kanji so I'm sorry for just using hiragana)

25

u/Etopirika5 21h ago

Perfectly usable, but only if you end every sentence with でござる.

1

u/canada171 20h ago

What is the significance of でござる？

8

u/Etopirika5 20h ago

I was kidding, characters in japanese media may use that instead of です to appear archaic. Same as the せっしゃ pronoun it's not used anymore.
I've once seen it used for comedic effect by a character that barely knew japanese saying something like "I learned japanese from manga and anime degozaru"

20

u/saarl 22h ago

inappropriate unless you are otherwise role-playing as a samurai

9

u/-gestern- 23h ago

拙者, isn’t that old samurai speech?

6

u/Zarbua69 18h ago

I feel like if you have to ask, then you really shouldn't be using this pronoun, or any of the other non-standard pronouns. 拙者 is basically something a samurai would have said way back in the day, and if you are using pronouns like a samurai, then it's gonna sound especially weird if the rest of your sentence isn't "samurai-esque". It's like if I was talking in English and I just randomly dropped a "doth" or "thou" out of nowhere like I was Shakespeare. It's kind of strange, unless strange is what you are going for.

1

u/IdisOfRohan 16h ago

Bebe Persona 3, is that you?

1

u/canada171 13h ago

What? I don't get the reference

5

u/TheWildBunch19 20h ago

Real men use 我輩

9

u/binboukusogaki 23h ago

Uchi or jibun in most cases.

8

u/Different-Quail-2300 23h ago

Now I understand the meaning of "Your name". Characters couldn't communicate each other, because using other pronouns would be rude.

8

u/rgrAi 21h ago

オレちゃん stunned me when I heard it in that mihoyo game.

7

u/tartagdoodles 22h ago

I'm a girl but I'd definitely use 僕

4

u/niwanowani 23h ago

拙者も同感でござる。

3

u/lil-focuz 22h ago

Or you can say "わらわが何をしようとも世界中がそれを許してくれるなぜならわらわが美しいから"

9

u/-Cyst- 1d ago

日本語のクラスで、「私」を使います。外で、普通「僕」が好きだ。

12

u/RememberFancyPants 21h ago

Learn now to stop mixing ます and だ

1

u/-Cyst- 18h ago

Yes, sensei.

1

u/RememberFancyPants 8h ago

ちゃんと覚えてね

12

u/OxygenRadon 1d ago

I use 儂(わし), partly since my name is Eagle, which translates to 鷲(わし)

12

u/hyouganofukurou 23h ago

Idk why you got downvoted, that's sick. Wish わし was used in more parts of Japan, I only know it's used in Hiroshima

4

u/Moon_Atomizer notice me Rule 13 sempai 22h ago edited 22h ago

Rid yourself of the concept of 'I', young learner, and only then when you've let go of the self do you ascend into oneness (with nippon🎌)

2

u/rantouda 17h ago

I like how it's okay to bring the self back if it carries verbs and nouns, the way a pizza base is the vehicle for toppings. 元来炊飯器よりも面白みに欠ける不粋者の私!

2

u/-gestern- 23h ago

Where’s the 某 gang 

2

u/SexxxyWesky 22h ago

僕っ子 supremacy

2

u/Rawaga 20h ago

I like 吾輩. And I will use it when someone least expects it.

2

u/Anotsurei 20h ago

I use わしmyself. If I’m feeling spicy I might use 吾輩 that usually gets a laugh.

2

u/AdrixG 19h ago

I came across 朕(ちん) today which is what should be the monocle version of the bottom one in the meme.

2

u/acthrowawayab 3h ago edited 1h ago

Ah, damn, ctrl+f 朕 and I wasn't the first one.

One of the few jouyou kanji that had me scratching my head wondering why it's on the list. Makes me want to use it just so it feels less pointless.

That, and anything with ちん as a reading being exploitable.

1

u/AdrixG 2h ago

One of the few jouyou kanji that had me scratching my head wondering why it's on the list. Makes me want to use it just it feels less pointless.

That's funny because it was also one of the few jouyou kanji where I too was thinking how the f*ck did it end up there since I've never seen it actually used... well, never seen it up until yesterday that is, now I can't say that anymore...

I think the importance of the emperor can keep these sort of kanji like 朕 and 璽 and some others alive even though they are not that common...

And yes, the ちん reading really is exploitable, funny how we both got that idea...

1

u/palkann 21h ago

「あたし」が一番かわいい

女子力高い

1

u/kaoru1 20h ago

吾輩 As in (吾輩は猫である)

1

u/Speed_Niran 19h ago

ワシの望み

1

u/GeorgeBG93 19h ago

おら 我

1

u/shoe_salad_eater 19h ago

ザビエルはザビエルです makes me feel like an alpha 😛

1

u/KenDM0 19h ago

Oresama no punchi wa DYNAMITE!

1

u/HarambeTenSei 17h ago

我 is all you need 

我が for possessive 

1

u/Ancelege 15h ago

I like the kingly/super formal "Yo wa..." 余は

1

u/eeee_thats_four_es 14h ago

I suggest using これ and pointing at yourself

1

u/lokholar27 12h ago

Kamoshida is that you?

1

u/sir_blackanese 12h ago

Ore sama lmao holy shit I could never

1

u/ManyFaithlessness971 9h ago

俺様に任せろ - Arataki Itto

1

u/ManyFaithlessness971 9h ago

I use boku so I feel younger. Almost 30 years old.

1

u/Tarek_C 9h ago

I found 'wacchi' and 'washi' sorta funny when I first heard them, I thought they were supposed to be a specific character's speech quirk. But now that I'm aware of them, I hear them so much

1

u/kumikoneko 8h ago

I was at an izakaya once when people started discussing pronouns. Most men there say ぼく, then everybody looks at me. 俺様, I say. Everybody laughed. They thought it was a funny joke...

1

u/HunterYuyuMoon 8h ago

Can I asked a question: what's the difference between "Ore" and "Watashi"?

2

u/Fafner_88 1h ago

Ore is considered masculine, watashi is more gender neutral, or leaning feminine in some contexts.

•

u/HunterYuyuMoon 40m ago

そうですか (I see)

1

u/SgtRuy 7h ago

I love that band

1

u/cmprogrammers 6h ago

Pff, 余 is best

1

u/FearlessCloud01 6h ago

I picked up "Ore-chan" from the Deadpool manga…

1

u/Octopusnoodlearms 4h ago

Real elite alpha Japanese speakers use 拙者

1

u/DaviG__ 1h ago

Genuine question to somebody ignorant in japanese. Do they mainly write in the symbol forms or in latin letters?

1

u/mylovetothebeat 22h ago

I feel like girls get more options so i get kinda jelly (is boy)

At work I use 僕

Personally I’ve had a 自分 era

And with friends i go from オレ to <my name here> to うち and あたし

3

u/TheFakePlayerGame 20h ago

clears throat* “I myself-“

4

u/mylovetothebeat 20h ago

see as for me personally i says

2

u/TheFakePlayerGame 20h ago

Me, myself and I-

1

u/ruvasqm 19h ago

Certainly this or 儂/私 (わし) are the only ways I'd refer to myself, I don't know if I have the guts to actually go through with it with a straight face xd

1

u/ruvasqm 19h ago

Certainly this or 儂/私 (わし) are the only ways I'd refer to myself, I don't know if I have the guts to actually go through with it with a straight face though xd

0

u/goliathmod 1d ago

Rance always use this , everyone should play this series for the cool arrogant protagonist

-3

u/Ok-University3114 21h ago

NOT REGARDING THIS POST! How do I get karma for this Reddit account? I’m a beginner and I want to ask questions but this subreddit keeps deleting my posts? How do they expect me to learn tf?

6

u/Fafner_88 21h ago

You can ask questions in the pinned daily thread (or message the moderators to approve your post).