Thousands of ways to say “You” in Japanese.

I think many here know that there are more than 100 ways to say “I” in Japanese. But many do not know that there are many ways to say “You” as well.

The pronouns in Japanese are not standardized; many do not use the word “you” to refer to another person. They prefer to say the person’s name or some other respectful way. Thus, there are thousands of ways to say you in Japanese that we will see in this article.

You in Formal Japanese

Below are the main ways to say you in Japanese casually:

• あなた – anata: The most common and polite way to say you;
• そちら – sochira: A polite way to say 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 Casual Japanese

Below are the main ways to say you in Japanese casually, including slang:

• お前 (おまえ): often used among male friends. Depending on the person, it can become rude;
• オメェ: Slang version of omae;
• 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 of お前さん;
• 自分(じぶん): Can mean both I and you. Understand the meaning of jibun;
• わい: Used in Kyushu;

Used in a rude way or with enemies

• てめぇ: Very common in anime and manga;
• 己 (おのれ): Usually 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 in the slang おのれ;
• 貴様 (きさま): Used to be polite;
• きさん: Variation of 貴様 used in Kyushu, but it is not offensive;
• 我 (われ): Used in the north and west of Japan, also means I;
• わ: The same as 我

You in Professional Situations

The following words are used in relation to someone representing a:

• 貴社(きしゃ): company
• 御社(おんしゃ): company
• 貴店(きてん): store
• 貴局(ききょく): Broadcasting company, post office, water agency;
• 貴紙(きし): news 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 instead of “you”:

• 店長(てんちょう): store 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 speaking with someone from your own company, the honorific -san is usually not added. But if it is someone from another company, it is used.

Used in letters

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

• 貴兄 (きけい): Used for men with equal or higher status than the 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 with equal or lower status;

Using the listener’s name

It is very common for a person to call the 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 speaking with 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 to refer to a person by name, we also recommend reading our article titled “How to know if a Japanese girl likes you“.

Other ways to say You in Japanese

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

People often use words like mother, father, uncle, aunt, grandmother, grandfather to refer to family members, or even to people who are not family. Example: Some young people use 爺さん (じいさん) when talking to an elderly man.

Some refer to people by calling them man [男 otoko] or woman [女 onna], but this can sound a bit sexist and rude. I hope you enjoyed the numerous ways to say you in Japanese.