The Many Ways To Say “You”
Just like for the word “I,” the word “you” is also all about elevating the other person and humbling yourself. “You” words can be a bit trickier though – you’ll see how below.
あなた
This is technically the standard way to say “you,” though it’s a pretty big misconception in most Japanese lesson books, etc., that it’s used all the time. The word “you” in Japanese isn’t the same as in English, nor does it work the same way. Sure, あなた is the best direct translation to “you,” and sure, it works the same way, but it’s much more natural to use the person’s name in place of “you,” as you’ll learn at the bottom of this list.
おまえ（お前）
おまえ can be considered as rude, though it’s also commonly used amongst friends when joking around. Literally means “(my) front.” Here it is in kanji: お前. The お part makes it more of an honorific (ironically) and the 前 part just means “front.”
きみ（君）
This “you” is very affectionate. You’ll hear this one being thrown around when it comes to boyfriends and girlfriends. Sometimes you’ll hear it being used with people who are really close to each other too (and not in a relationship), though.
てまえ：
Old fashioned, pretty rude, and good to use if you’re angry at someone. Literally means “this side” so it’s like you’re referring to someone as an inanimate side of something. Although when written it’s てまえ, most people end up pronouncing it more like てめえ (which can cause a lot of confusion when you hear it and see it written). You’ll see this thrown around a lot in various shows / anime, when someone is really pissed off at someone.
“I just stole your princess, Mario.”
a “手前！” (draw out and yell the 手前 for greater effect)
こいつ：
Literally means “this person,” こいつ is used to talk down to someone.
Using The Person’s Name:
This one can be a little weird for people not used to it. Instead of saying “you” like you do in English, you just replace the word “you” with the person’s name+さん. Let’s take a look at these example sentences. I’m just taking the “regular you” and replacing it with the person’s name. The person in question is Jon:
Is this your spoon? → Is this Jon’s spoon?
Are you cold? → Is Jon cold? (and yes, we’re talking directly to Jon when saying this)
This is the most polite and most common thing to do when referring to someone else. It’s like talking about someone in the third person while you’re talking to them. Weird, right? Hopefully you’re better than I am at remembering people’s names, though. You’ll practice this more as you move forward.
Before moving on, you should download the “Identity” Anki deck and import it into your “TextFugu Vocab” deck. You don’t have to study it now (maybe you should check to see if there’s reviews, though), but you can if you want to make vocab easier on yourself later on. I’ll leave that up to you – you’re getting better at this whole “studying Japanese” thing, I’m sure, so I ought to give you a little more freedom to make your own decisions, based on how you study / how hard vocab is for you. So, do what you will, but definitely import this deck now before you forget, at least.
Now that you have the vocabulary you need, let’s start using “I” and “You” with the grammar we learned in the previous chapter. First thing’s first, time to introduce yourself!