# Kimi Pronoun



## damianvila

Can somebody clarify a little when one person may use "kimi" and when "anta"?
My friend never explained to me in wich situtations it may be used.
I used "watashi" when talking to a stranger or my friend's parents, and "boku" when talking to him or a friend of him. I never used "ore" since I know it's very familiar and should not be used outside your own home.
But for other people I always used "anata", even for his girlfriend and sister.
Thanks,

D.


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## Camui

damianvila said:
			
		

> Can somebody clarify a little when one person may use "kimi" and when "anta"?



Creo que no deberias usar anta es muy poco educado, creo que kimi/anata se parecen a en español tú/usted, usa kimi con los amigos cercanos y anata con los demás.

Ja na


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## redwine

damianvila said:
			
		

> Can somebody clarify a little when one person may use "kimi" and when "anta"?
> My friend never explained to me in wich situtations it may be used.
> I used "watashi" when talking to a stranger or my friend's parents, and "boku" when talking to him or a friend of him. I never used "ore" since I know it's very familiar and should not be used outside your own home.
> But for other people I always used "anata", even for his girlfriend and sister.
> Thanks,
> 
> D.



It is anata. Anata is subjective pronoun 'you' and this is used in formal situations.
Kimi is subjective pronoun 'you' and it is informal, used when talking to close friends, younger siblings, but not to parents, older relatives etc.
Actually, there is more formal form of watashi and that is watakushi. I believe that watakushi is used in more formal or solemn situations.
However, there are many Japanese in this forum who could enlighten us more about this topic.


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## maree

I have a question about the use of "kimi" as well.
When I looked it up in an online dictionary it said this:

kimi*you (fam, fem)*

Does this mean that it can only be used when talking to females?


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## luckyguy

Ummmm....how hard question for us:Japanese natives. 
If explaining about the usage for "watashi","kimi","anata",etc(personal pronouns), I think we have to publish a book. Because the usage for the personal pronouns isn't simple in Japanese.

I'm afraid to tell you a general usage:"kimi" is informal, "anata" is formal, as redwine explained.
I recommend the all beginners for Japanese to focus only formal style. 



			
				maree said:
			
		

> ......kimi*you (fam, fem)*
> 
> Does this mean that it can only be used when talking to females?


No!!! You can use it also to males or children. But, Kimi may address only a female in the words of songs/dramas/mangas.

Besides, the native Japanese usually don't use personal pronouns in our life.
When I started to learn English(Engrish? ), I had confused to have to indicate "I" or "you", even now!!


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## maree

Ok. I must admit that my only source to knowing what it's like in Japan is anime, and that is hardly an accurate report of your daily life (it can't be _that_ weird over there )

Anyway, behaviour at school is the same in almost all the series, so I guess that one thing is quite informative:
You are insanely polite! Calling a classmate surname-san would never happen in Norway, where we jump to given names at once.

Would you say 'kimi' to any classmate, or just to the ones you're past the "-san stadium" with?

I also have a feeling that kimi sort of means 'dear you', is that correct? You wouldn't say kimi to a person you hated, even if you weren't formal with each other, would you?


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## luckyguy

maree said:
			
		

> Ok. I must admit that my only source to knowing what it's like in Japan is anime, and that is hardly an accurate report of your daily life (it can't be _that_ weird over there )
> 
> Anyway, behaviour at school is the same in almost all the series, so I guess that one thing is quite informative:
> You are insanely polite! Calling a classmate surname-san would never happen in Norway, where we jump to given names at once.
> 
> Would you say 'kimi' to any classmate, or just to the ones you're past the "-san stadium" with?
> 
> I also have a feeling that kimi sort of means 'dear you', is that correct? You wouldn't say kimi to a person you hated, even if you weren't formal with each other, would you?


 
As long as the topics we are discussing, 君(kimi,kun) can be into two-types: 
1) a personal pronoun:kimi(as a meaning of you)
　　　e.g.君に会いたい(kimi ni aitai)[I wanna meet you]
2) a title:kun(as a kind of Mr.)
　　　e.g.太郎君に会いたい(Taro-kun ni aitai)[I wanna meet Taro]

For which type would you like to know?

There are many way of both title and personal pronoun(not used generally), varying upon the human relations. Because we, in Japan, always mind the position or social standing(上下関係[jougekankei]) in human relations.


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## Captain Haddock

Note that Japanese has no true pronouns. Kimi, anata, and the like are really nouns that have or used to have other meanings. Real Japanese doesn't use them very often. If you're saying "anata" or "kimi" all the time, you probably sound strange to a Japanese person. Using the person's name (plus -san or -kun or -chan) is better in most cases, when you absolutely need to clarify who you're talking about.

"I also have a feeling that kimi sort of means 'dear you'…"

That's "anata", it means "darling". Wives say it to their husbands.


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## hapax legomenon

Captain Haddock stated:



> Note that Japanese has no true pronouns. Kimi, anata, and the like are really nouns that have or used to have other meanings. Real Japanese doesn't use them very often. If you're saying "anata" or "kimi" all the time, you probably sound strange to a Japanese person. Using the person's name (plus -san or -kun or -chan) is better in most cases, when you absolutely need to clarify who you're talking about.


  The need to express equivalents of English "I", "you" etc. only arose after the Meiji Restoration (1867) when the first Western-style grammars of Japanese were written.  

As the Captain says, it is very common to use personal names instead of pronouns. A girl called Keiko asking her boyfriend whether she was cute would tend to ask: _keiko ga/wa kawaii?_ "is K. cute?", with the lack of a _-san_ suffix showing that it's 1stP.

Conversely, a _-san suffix (or equivalent) instantly shows it's a second person.

*Second person pronouns:* 
君 kimi (2nd.P) originally meant "lord."  ​ 
僕 boku means "servant"; but while usually an informal 1stP, 僕 boku can also be a Second Person used to address small boys.

お前omae (2ndP informal) means "you in my presence".​ ​ 貴様 kisama is also informal "you" despite looking polite.​ ​ 己 onore, "I" (1stP humble) is also a very rude "you" (2ndP).​ ​ anata seems to be not that common as a polite 2ndP because of the tendency to use names (anatagata (2ndPlural) is a different matter). The Captain mentioned the common wife-to-husband usage of anata.​ ​ It's the same with Third Person pronouns, incidentally. 彼 kare and 彼女 kanojo, female are used to translate "he" and "she" in grammar books, but they are much more often used to mean "boyfriend" and "girlfriend".​_


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## luckyguy

Captain Haddock said:
			
		

> Note that Japanese has no true pronouns. Kimi, anata, and the like are really nouns that have or used to have other meanings. Real Japanese doesn't use them very often. If you're saying "anata" or "kimi" all the time, you probably sound strange to a Japanese person. Using the person's name (plus -san or -kun or -chan) is better in most cases, when you absolutely need to clarify who you're talking about.
> 
> "I also have a feeling that kimi sort of means 'dear you'…"
> 
> That's "anata", it means "darling". Wives say it to their husbands.


I agree with you! But, I want to say two things: 
　- If you use the title, you have to carefully mind its selection.
　-"anata" (meaning of darling) is used in the words of drama/movie/manga. But, mayn't be used in our actual life.


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