How to say “I” in Japanese

How to say “I” in Japanese

わたくし (私) /watakushi/
– Very formal.
– PR professionals (CEO, politicians…) usually use it when making official announcements.
– It may sound a bit arrogant to the listeners so you should avoid using this.

わたし (私) /watashi/
– A shortened form of「わたくし」.
– The most standard way to say “I”.
– Gender-free but women tend to use it more than men.
– If you don’t know what word to use,「わたし」 is the best choice.

あたし /atashi/
– An informal form of「わたし」.
– It’s generally used by younger girls and women to sound cuter and more feminine.
– It is written in either Hiragana or Katakana.
– 「あたくし」 is a more formal form of「あたし」.

あたい /atai/
– A slang version of「あたし」.
– It’s originally used by women in certain red light districts and eventually picked up by those wanting to show a “bad girl” image.
– People who use this are implied to be lower-class and uneducated.

ぼく (僕) /boku/
– An informal, “soft-masculine” way for men (especially young boys) to adress themselves, but young or boyish girls sometimes use it too.
– 「僕」literally means “servant” so you could use it when you try to sound humble.
– Be careful when using it with strangers, superiors or colleagues.

おれ (俺) /ore/
– An informal, “hard-masculine” word that tough guys use.
– It can be seen as “rude” depending on the context.
– A very common way to say “I” in groups of men (except in formal settings).

おいら /oira/ – おら /ora/
– Similar to「俺」, but more casual.
– They convey a feeling of being from a low-class, rural area.
– 「おら」is more rural than「おいら」 and it’s a dialect in Kanto and further north.

うち (内) /uchi/
– Informal and gender-free but women mostly use it.
– It’s often used in Kansai dialect.
– Women uses it when they wants to say an informal word without adding the cuteness like「あたし」.

こちら /kochira/ – こっち /kocchi/
– It literally means “this way.” and can be understood as “we”.
– 「こちら」is highly formal and usually used in business, especially on the phone.
– 「こっち」is an abbreviated version of「こちら」and much more informal than the other, usually used between friends.

われ (我) /ware/
– More common in plural form:「我々」/wareware/ (we).
– It’s used in literary style and as rude second person in western dialects.

わし /washi/
– A shortened form of「わたし」.
– It’s often used in western dialects and fictional settings to stereotypically represent old men.
– 「わい」/wai/ is a slang version of「わし」in Kansai dialect.

*These are just some common pronouns to adress yourself, not all of them.

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