{"id":59847,"date":"2023-07-03T16:29:45","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T08:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/?p=59847"},"modified":"2025-03-07T11:33:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T03:33:12","slug":"me-in-japanese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/life\/me-in-japanese\/","title":{"rendered":"Watashi? Ore? The 7 ways to say \u201cI\u201d or \u201cme\u201d in Japanese"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever got confused when watching anime? Who are boku, watashi, and ore? When you begin digging deeper into the language, you will find that there is a variety of terms to say \u201cI\u201d or \u201cme\u201d, according to social status, gender, and the situation. Hopefully, this list will help you with your own Japanese adventures.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Watashi\uff08\u79c1\/\u308f\u305f\u3057\uff09<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Copyright (C) 1jp.tokyo . All Rights Reserved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWatashi\u201d is the standard, gender-neutral way to say \u201cI.\u201d You will always find it on Japanese language textbooks and it is the best choice for all beginners. However, it is often seen as feminine, especially if you are a conversation with a group of men. In this case, you may use the term \u201core.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Watakushi\uff08\u79c1\/\u308f\u305f\u304f\u3057\uff09<\/h2>\n

If you are looking for a term that is even more formal and polite, choose \u201cwatakushi\u201d instead. It can be used in business settings or with respected elders, and often used by adults in the workplaces only. If you try using it in casual settings, it may be awkward as the only time you may hear it is probably from older women or noble characters in anime.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Atashi\uff08\u79c1\/\u3042\u305f\u3057\uff09<\/h2>\n

This is an informal feminine form of \u201cwatashi\u201d, and it adds some cuteness to your personality. Although the kanji of \u201cwatashi\u201d and \u201cAtashi\u201d are the same, it is most commonly written in hiragana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ore\uff08\u4ffa\/\u304a\u308c\uff09<\/h2>\n
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Copyright (C) 1jp.tokyo . All Rights Reserved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOre\u201d is one of the most common terms used by men during an informal conversation. It can actually convey a sense of intimacy and \u201chard-masculinity.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Boku\uff08\u50d5\/\u307c\u304f\uff09<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Copyright (C) 1jp.tokyo . All Rights Reserved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This term is used primarily by teens and younger men, but some young or boyish girls use it too. \u201cBoku\u201d literally means manservant, so it is more likely to be a humble expression of yourself in a casual situation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jibun\uff08\u81ea\u5206\/\u3058\u3076\u3093\uff09<\/h2>\n

\u201cJibun\u201d is a gender-neutral term seeing oneself from second personnel, and often adopted by traditional military personnel or athlete.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ware\uff08\u6211\/\u308f\u308c\uff09<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Copyright (C) 1jp.tokyo . All Rights Reserved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you have watched any Japanese drama about the military or the anime Keroro, you will probably remember the characters saying \u201cwareware.\u201d The term \u201cwareware\u201d is the plural form of \u201cware.\u201d It is a formal self-proclaimed term used for speech, meeting or discussion<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is more way to say \u201cI\u201d and \u201cme\u201d in different occasion and different dialects. Practice more and soon you will be able to blend in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever got confused when watching anime? Who are boku, watashi, and ore? When<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13735,"featured_media":59866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,15,4,2],"tags":[9887,9961,9963,9964,9962],"class_list":["post-59847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kansai","category-kanto","category-life","category-travel","tag-all-prefectures","tag-me","tag-ore","tag-watakushi","tag-watashi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13735"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59847"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59868,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59847\/revisions\/59868"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}