Lesson Nine: Pronouns
Let’s learn some new words before we get started on sentence building. Pronouns!
Here are some common words used to describe other people.
those | sorera | それら |
me (male informal) | boku | ぼく |
me (fem. Informal) | atashi | あたし |
you | anata | あなた |
we | watashitachi | わたしたち |
When you’re being polite you should use words or grammar marked as formal. This should be used when talking to people who are above you in rank. This includes your boss, teachers, people that are older than you, or people that you look up to. But you don’t need to talk politely with me. We’re friends, right?
If you’re not talking politely, like with people your age or younger, then you can use words that are marked as informal. Most girls will still use watashi instead of atashi though. But if you’re a boy and you’re speaking informally, you would refer to yourself as boku.
Just to warn you, it’s not very polite to refer to other people with a pronoun like he, she or you. It’s better to use their name instead.
he | kare | かれ |
she | kanojo | かのじょ |
they (mas.) | karera | かれら |
they (fem.) | kanojotachi | かのじょたち |
you (plural) | anatatachi | あなたたち |
I want to make sure that you know these well. So it’s game time!
GAME: Word search
Knowing these words will be very useful in the near future! Be sure to practice them!
You’re doing great, I want to give you a new came. Try it out!
GAME: Flash cards
Great! Get those mastered and we’ll cover some more Japanese writing! See you soon!
