Thousands of ways to say “You” in Japanese.

I think many here know that there are more than 100 ways to say "me" in Japanese. But many do not know that there are many ways to say "you" too.

You Japanese pronouns are not standardized, many do not use the word “you” to refer to another person. They prefer to speak the person's name, or some other respectful manner. So there are thousands of ways to say you in Japanese that we are going to look at in this article.

You in Formal Japanese

Below are the main ways to say you in Japanese in a casual way:

• あなた – anata: The most common and polite way of saying you;
• そちら– sochira: A polite way of saying you, adding 様 (さま) to make it more formal;
• 御宅 (おたく) - otaku: standard polite way. Its meaning has changed.
• 君 (きみ) – kimi: Used by close people, close friends and couples;

You in Japanese Casual

Below are the main ways to say you in Japanese in a casual way, including slang:

• お前 (おまえ): Often used between male friends. Depending on the person it can become rude;
• オメェ: Omae version slang;
• あんた: abbreviated version of "あなた". In the east considered an insult, in the west considered normal;
• お前さん (おまえさん): Similar to あんた;
• おまいさん: Variation in お前さん;
• 自分(じぶん): It can mean both you and me. Understand the meaning of jibun;
• わい: Used in Kyushuu;

Used rudely or with enemies

• てめぇ: Very common in anime and manga;
• 己 (おのれ): Often used by yakuza in the midst of fights;
• おどれ, おんどれ, おどりゃ, おんどりゃ: All variations on the slang おのれ;
• 貴様 (きさま): He used to be polite;
• きさん: Variation of 貴様 used in Kyushuu, but not offensive;
• 我 (われ): Used in northern and western Japan, also means I;
• わ: Same as 我

You in Professional Situations

The following words are used in relation to someone who is representing one:

• 貴社(きしゃ): company
• 御社(おんしゃ): company
• 貴店(きてん): shop
• 貴局(ききょく): Broadcasting company, post office, water agency;
• 貴紙 (きし): newspaper company
• 貴学 (きがく): university
• 貴校(きこう): school
• 貴園 (きえん): kindergarten
• 貴サイト(きさいと): website

Position in the company

Within any company (large or small), there are several positions that are used in place of “you”:

• 店長(てんちょう): shop owner
• 課長(かちょう): section chief
• 部長 (ぶちょう): department head
• 副社長(ふくしゃちょう): vice president
• 社長(しゃちょう): president

When you're talking to someone from your own company, you don't usually add the I honor -san. But if it's someone from another company, it's used.

The artigo is still half finished, but we recommend opening it to read the following later:

used in letters

When writing a face to someone, we can use some of the expressions below:

• 貴兄 (きけい): Used for men of equal or greater status than person;
• 貴姉 (きし): Used by men and women of the same age or older;
• 貴君 (きくん): Used by men for men of equal or lower status;

Using listener name

It is very common for people to call each other by name instead of using the pronoun “you“. It is worth noting that there are different ways to call a person by name.

In Japan when talking to a stranger or someone without intimacy, we usually call the person by their surname or family name. there are also respectful honorifics that we should use when calling someone by name.

To understand the different levels and ways of referring to a person by name, we recommend also reading our article entitled “How to know if a Japanese girl likes you".

Other Ways to Say You in Japanese

• 汝 (なんじ): Sometimes it is considered similar to "you";
• そち, そなた, その方 (そのほう): Used by a person of higher status to a person of lesser status;
• 卿 (けい): Monarch uses with his subjects;
• 此方 (こなた): Also means I or he/she;
• 先輩 – Senpai: Used in schools to refer to a senior. (upper class)
• 後輩 – Kouhai: Used in school to refer to a freshman. (lower class)
• 先生 - Sensei: Used to talk to teachers, masters, authors, doctors, lawyers and others;

People often use words like mother, father, uncle, aunt, grandmother, grandfather to refer to your family members, or even people who are not part of the family. Example: Some young people use 爺さん (じいさん) when talking to a senior citizen.

Some refer to people calling her male [男 otoko] or female [女 onna], but this can get a little sexist and rude. I hope you enjoyed the countless ways to say you in Japanese.