From my understanding of Japanese honorifics (Note: I am a boy), there are 3 ways I can say "I": Boku, Ore, and Watashi.
I also understand that there are 3 different types of sentences: Casual, Desu-Masu, and Honorific Form.

Do these forms match up (like, I use Ore when speaking causualy, Boku with Desu-Ma, and Watashi with the Honorific form)? And when do I use each form?

If I see my friend on the street what do I use? How about my teacher? A random person?

Marble101 Wrote:From my understanding of Japanese honorifics (Note: I am a boy), there are 3 ways I can say "I": Boku, Ore, and Watashi.
I also understand that there are 3 different types of sentences: Casual, Desu-Masu, and Honorific Form.

Do these forms match up (like, I use Ore when speaking causualy, Boku with Desu-Ma, and Watashi with the Honorific form)? And when do I use each form?

They match up, but it's not as strict as you are thinking of.

Ore: Almost exclusively used in casual male speech and rarely heard with polite and honorific forms.
Boku: Can be used in casual or polite speech and to a lesser extent, honorific forms.
Watashi: Can be used in polite and honorific speech but rarely used in casual male speech. When used with honorifics, "watashi" usually transforms to "watakushi".

Marble101 Wrote:If I see my friend on the street what do I use? How about my teacher? A random person?

The pronouns people pick really depend a lot on their personality. Tough guys usually go with ore and more "educated" people go with boku.

Friend on the street: Usually people will talk to each other using casual speech forms.
Teacher: Should use honorific forms but you could get away with polite desu forms.
Random person: Polite desu forms.

kitakitsune Wrote:The pronouns people pick really depend a lot on their personality. Tough guys usually go with ore and more "educated" people go with boku.

Oh that's interesting that more "educated" people use boku. I don't know why, but I find boku sounds a lot more feminine, despite generally being a male pro-noun, and prefer when my male friends use ore.

For even more fun, check out the following:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Us...sePronouns
http://www.fuzita.org/jpculture/howmanyi/howmanyi.html
http://nihonshock.com/2009/11/the-many-ways-to-say-i/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_pronouns

Thank you.
Also, I read that Japanese doesn't use the word for "you" very much, but everywhere, I've heard textbooks tell me to use anata.
When should I use it?

One thing area I noticed some of us non natives make a mistake is using honorifics too much...
What I learned from my jp friends is when japanese speak to each other in a non business/formal situation,
even if they are not currently friends they use the casual form. (not a fixed rule, but have to play it based on the other persons response).

What kinda shocked me is sometimes on first meeting they use casual form.

They do this because they don't want to show distance and want to be friendly. ie become friends.

But still have to be careful and know when it's appropriate and when it's not.

teacher/student, boss, random stranger, in-laws would still be honorific from what I've seen.

kitakitsune hit the nail on the head, if ever you're unsure follow that advice.
I will say a girl I know once said I sounded like a pussy for using "boku". Make what you will of that. And the first time I ever came to Japan I was laughed at for using polite speech towards total strangers. Just use your discretion as best you can.

socrat Wrote:One thing area I noticed some of us non natives make a mistake is using honorifics too much...
What I learned from my jp friends is when japanese speak to each other in a non business/formal situation,
even if they are not currently friends they use the casual form. (not a fixed rule, but have to play it based on the other persons response).

This is not true in my experience. It may be true among younger people, students, and outside of Tokyo, though.

One thing to keep in mind is that there are no "rules". Different people use different words in different situations. You'll hear very different things coming from different people.

If you're wondering what to use yourself, then it's generally a good idea to copy those around you. If you're talking to someone older than you, it's generally okay/good to use the polite forms (desu/masu). If you're talking to someone your own age, it's generally okay to use plain form.

In my experience, Japanese people don't use "I" that much. Somebody like yudantaiteki or vix might be able to explain this.

That being said, as long as you're not asian, Japanese people will be REALLY forgiving towards your Japanese. You can basically get away with talking however you want to talk.

I don't like it when non-Japanese guys use 'ore' - to me it seems kinda strange usually because it doesn't match with the Japanese they are speaking ie. their Japanese is not the equivalent to being native. I used to use boku when learning Japanese but after studying in Japan I felt it was almost child-like (I know that anyone of any age can use it, but that was just my personal feeling. Generally all my guy friends used either ore or watashi and I, not being Japanese, ended up using watashi, which I now exclusively when I need to use "I".

Note my Japanese boss uses boku and he is in his late 50s, while my sempai uses a variation depending on if he is talking to me, the boss, or someone in Tokyo on the telephone.

(I also forget to use masu form frequently with my boss.....but he never seems to mind. Only once he told me to say おはようございます instead of おはよう when he says good morning to me...mind you he came up from behind me and I thought it was the guy I work with rather than the boss...)

Unfortunately I think it's dangerous to rely on "nobody seems to mind" or "nobody told me not to use X" because in a lot of cases they're not going to correct you, either because they don't want to be confrontational or they think that as a foreigner you aren't really expected to use polite Japanese correctly.

Quote:That being said, as long as you're not asian, Japanese people will be REALLY forgiving towards your Japanese. You can basically get away with talking however you want to talk.

And while this is true, it's not necessarily good to rely on this. Using proper Japanese can go a long way towards staving off the "Can you eat rice? When are you going back to your home country? Do you know sushi?" questions. My goal is always to speak like a native Japanese of my age and situation, not at a "fine for a foreigner" level.

On "I":
Multiple Japanese people have told me that they never think it sounds good when foreigners use 俺 because (similar to what SendaiDan says) it doesn't match with the rest of their Japanese. But then other Japanese people have told me it's no problem or even that they think I should use 俺.

Personally I just use 僕 all the time. There's no good option; you can even find blogs or pages with native Japanese males uncertain about which they should use. They all have problems -- 俺 is rough, 僕 can be perceived as childish, and 私 sounds feminine if used in less formal settings.

Quote:When used with honorifics, "watashi" usually transforms to "watakushi".

I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone use "watakushi" outside of a formal self-introduction or some other formal set phrase, even if they were using honorifics.

One other thing you have to remember about "honorifics" is that it's a very vague phrase; the situation of politeness and formality in Japanese is extremely complicated and doesn't break down easily to three levels. One of the basic issues is that desu/masu vs. plain has to do with who you are talking to (as does use of humble language), whereas honorific language generally has to do with who you are talking *about*. For instance, you might use honorific language when talking about a teacher to friends, but you wouldn't be using desu/masu.

yudantaiteki Wrote:

Quote:That being said, as long as you're not asian, Japanese people will be REALLY forgiving towards your Japanese. You can basically get away with talking however you want to talk.

And while this is true, it's not necessarily good to rely on this. Using proper Japanese can go a long way towards staving off the "Can you eat rice? When are you going back to your home country? Do you know sushi?" questions. My goal is always to speak like a native Japanese of my age and situation, not at a "fine for a foreigner" level.

I totally agree with this. However, I don't think beginners need to fret over it. When I started out, I just stuck with 僕 because it seemed the safest bet. Not too girly and not too rude. But now that my Japanese has improved, I use all four depending on the occasion. (Well, I guess I've never really had a chance to use わたくし, but it's in my repertory for when I need it).