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Lesson 2: You
In this lesson, I will teach you how to say “You” in Japanese.
In Japanese, you use あなた and 君 to say “You”.
Note:
| It’s not polite to use あなた and 君 directly to superiors or strangers (It’s okay to use them to your friends), so you’d better avoid using them to superiors or strangers whenever possible. Instead, you can say something directly. Such as 元気ですか。Means “How are you?”. You don’t need to say “あなたは元気ですか” |
Plural Form & Impolite Form
As for the plural form and impolite form, you can refer to below.
(You will see impolite form often in anime and manga.)
Usually, it’s enough to use あなたたち as the plural form of “you”.
| Form | Pronoun |
| Plural Form | あなたがた＞あなたたち |
| Impolite Form | 君、お前、貴様、あんた、君たち、お前たち、お前ら Note: Don’t use them to strangers or superiors because it’s impolite. |
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11 thoughts on “Lesson 2: You”
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How about when we want to say “your things” something like that, is あなた suitable?
You can use
お兄さんのものですか。
お姉さんのものですか。
Are 君たち、お前たち、and お前ら the plural forms of 君 and お前? What is the cultural significance of お前たち versus お前ら ?
お前ら is more informal than お前たち
As an American familiar with the various forms of “y’all”, I thought this was kind of funny. We’re adding たち to an already plural word (君 = you plural), so it comes off as informally as someone saying “all y’all” in English since it’s essentially doubling the plural-ness of 君 by adding たち (just like adding all to the already plural y’all). I have no actual basis for coming to this conclusion but that’s how I understood it. And this would be the case for お前 vs お前たち, as well.
What about みなさん and みなさま? I found this thread on hinative where user answered that あなたがた and あなたたち rather rude.
https://hinative.com/ja/questions/1512327
Yeah, みんなさん is better, but it’s not a pronoun
I’m a bit confused. . . when do we use the plural from [あなたたち/ あなたがた] ?? I listen to Japanese music and watch anime but I haven’t heard of this yet ( if I remember correctly ).. Is it like addressing it to many people in second person?
It’s because Japanese think it’s a little bit rude to use “you”. So it’s usually used in official situation.
貴様 feels a bit beyond just impolite and moving into the blatantly offensive. Is it right to put it in the same box as 君 and お前?
is きさま used to refer to royality informally? I’m asking because i hear ‘sama’ used to address people with a royal status in Japanese shows