Nouns & Pronouns 名詞と代名詞
※From this point forward, romanization will not be offered so as to facilitate your immersion with Japanese writing. You are encouraged to download Rikaikun for reading assistance.
In English, a noun is often defined as a person, place, or thing. Nouns can also be broadly categorized as either being common nouns or proper nouns. Common nouns are generic names for people, place, or things, but unlike proper nouns, common nouns are not capitalized by default. Examples of common nouns include “car,” “island,” “genius,” etc. In contrast, proper nouns designate a particular being or thing and are usually capitalized. Examples of “proper nouns” include “Mt. Everest,” “Queen Elizabeth II,” etc.
■The Japanese Definition of “Noun” 日本語における「名詞」の定義
In Japanese, nouns are defined as typically representing a certain thing which is either a physical object (物体), substance (物質), person (人物), or place (場所), but they may also include abstract concepts like the word for “concept” itself – 概念. Just like English, Japanese also distinguishes between common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns include words like 学校 (school) and 歌 (song), and proper nouns include words like 富士山 (Mt. Fuji) and 東京タワー (Tokyo Tower).
Japanese nouns do not conjugate for grammatical gender1, person, or number2. So, the word 猫 meaning “cat” can refer to any number of cats as well as male and/or female cats.
Common Nouns 普通名詞
Common nouns comprise the majority of nouns. They represent the names of anything and everything within their definitions. For instance, 木 means “tree,” and it is used to describe any and all trees. To be more specific, you could add a modifier to the word, or you could use the name of the tree in question, which will also be a common noun. As an example, 柳 means “willow.”
Learning common nouns will be a major part of studying Kanji. Although it is not expected of you to learn the Kanji spelling of every noun you learn right off the bat, it will always be in your best interest to at least see them.
| Noun | Meaning | Noun | Meaning |
| 青 | Blue | 赤 | Red |
| 秋 | Autumn | 朝 | Morning |
| 足 | Foot | 脚 | Leg |
| 頭 | Head | 兄 | Older brother |
| 姉 | Older sister | 犬 | Dog |
| 妹 | Younger sister | 音 | Sound |
| 弟 | Younger brother | 川 | River |
| 黒 | Black | 白 | White |
| 猫 | Cat | 人 | Person |
| 水 | Water | 夜 | Night |
Proper Nouns 固有名詞
Just as in English, proper nouns refer to specific place, organization, or place names. Capitalization does not exist in Japanese, but proper nouns are often affixed with titles of respect called 敬称.
1. 金子さんはいますか。
Is Kaneko-san here?
2. 八百屋さんに行きます！
I’m going to the greengrocer!
As Ex. 2 shows, the polite title ～さん can go after shop types, referring to the people who work there as being synonymous with the shops themselves.
Personal Names 人名
Personal names are composed of a family name (surname) known as 苗字 that is then followed by a personal name (名前). Even as a beginner, there are certain names that will become familiar with very quickly. Examples include the names of the Prime Minister (総理大臣) and Japanese Royal Family (皇族). Perhaps you know several Japanese people or have favorite Japanese athlete(s) or singer(s). Whoever they are, their names count as practicing Japanese!
| English | Japanese | English | Japanese |
| Joe Biden | ジョー・バイデン | Yoshihide Suga | 菅義偉 |
| Keigo Higashino | 東野圭吾 | Hillary Clinton | ヒラリー・クリントン |
Place Names 地名
Aside from the countries of the world, states of the USA, and the prefectures of Japan, you will also learn the names of important islands, mountains, lakes, streets, etc. Especially when you go to Japan, words like 富士山 (Mt. Fuji) and 琵琶湖 (Lake Biwa) will be incredibly important.
Similarly to personal names, the spellings of place names will often involve very specific Kanji. Luckily, almost all street/traffic signs in Japan have romanization alongside the Japanese spelling.
| English | Japanese | English | Japanese |
| Tokyo | 東京 | Kyoto | 京都 |
| Osaka | 大阪 | Yokohama | 横浜 |
| Japan | 日本 | America | アメリカ |
| China | 中国 | South Korea | 韓国 |
| Asia | アジア | Europe | ヨーロッパ |
| Africa | アフリカ | Australia | オーストラリア |
| Antarctica | 南極大陸 | India | インド |
A Map of Japan 日本地図
There are four main islands of Japan. The larger island to the north is 北海道. The slender island extending down the whole of the country is 本州. The smaller island colored in purple is 四国. Then, the largest island to the south is 九州. The island chain to the south of 九州 is 沖縄. The island chain to the north of 北海道, which is claimed by both Russia and Japan, is known as the 千島列島.
Japan is divided into 47 state-like divisions called prefectures, collectively referred to as the 都道府県. ～都 stands for the capital prefecture: 東京都 (The Tokyo Metropolis/Prefecture). ～道 is only designated to 北海道. There are two ～府 for metropolitan prefectures: 大阪府 and 京都府. All other prefecture ends in ～県.
Organization Names 組織名
Slightly overlapping with place names, knowing names of organizations such as businesses, institutions, universities, churches, shrines, etc. will be a significant percentage of the nouns you learn. If you end up living in Japan, you will need to know the names of stores, banks, train stations, parks, theme parks, etc.
| English | Japanese | English | Japanese |
| Wikipedia | ウィキペディア | Ueno Zoo | 上野動物園 |
| Mizuho Bank | みずほ銀行 | McDonalds | マクドナルド |
| The United Nations | 国連 | 7-Eleven | セブン（イレブン） |
Addresses 住所の書き方
Japanese addresses are written in the reverse order as they are in English. This follows the “macro-to-micro” ordering of words observed in Japanese grammar – country, region (state/prefecture/county/province), city (ward/town), neighborhood (district), street, building, unit.
3. 佐々木さんは東京都新宿区落合２丁目〇〇−〇〇に住んでいます。
Sasaki-san lives in District 2 of Ochiai in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo Prefecture.
Pronouns 代名詞
A pronoun (代名詞) indirectly refers to an entity that involves a person, direction, or thing. The meaning of said entity is determined by context. For instance, proper names are pronouns because they stand in place of the actual person/thing they reference, and we need context to truly understand them. Take, for instance, the name “Seth.” This can refer to the creator of いまび, or it can refer to any person whose name is “Seth.” Because of this, the word “Seth” is a pronoun.
Similarly, words like “here” and “there” or even words like “this” and “that” are also pronouns. This is because no one can ascertain what they refer to without context.
Personal Pronouns 人称代名詞
Generally, when we think of pronouns, we think about pronouns that are used to establish grammatical person. These are called personal pronouns, and in English, they are as follows.
| Person 人称 | Singular 単数 | Plural 複数 |
| 1st Person 第一人称 | I | We |
| 2nd Person 第二人称 | You | You (all) |
| 3rd Person 第三人称 | He/she/it | They |
In English, gender and number both play roles in which pronoun you use, but in Japanese, there is no single pronoun that corresponds to each combination in English seen above.
Because all pronouns in Japanese started out as common nouns, they are all subject to the same causes for variation in other aspects of Japanese phrasing: speech register (plain vs. polite, casual vs. formal, etc.), the demographics of the speaker and listener (age, sex, occupation, dialect), as well as by to whom one is addressing.
For the purposes of starting out, we will start off by learning only the most essential pronouns, then we will return to the topic later.
1st Person Pronouns (I) 第一人称
There are three essential pronouns that mean “I”: わたし, わたくし, 僕.
■私（わたし）: All beginner texts will introduce this word as the basic word for “I.” Without a doubt, it is the best equivalent that Modern Japanese has to offer. However, its overuse is problematic, as Japanese speakers themselves hardly use it. When it does appear, the speaker is often bringing the focus of conversation on themselves. Overall, female speakers do tend to use it more than men in casual conversation, as men prefer using other pronouns in those situations.
Plural: 私たち
■私（わたくし）: The original form of the word, is the preferred pronunciation of 私 in formal speech. Like first person pronouns in general, it is not used constantly, but it is important to pair it with respectful language.
Plural: 私たち※
■僕: This pronoun is becoming the preferred pronoun for men of all ages, but there are situations in which women may be heard using it3. The word has very humble origins, and it is actually becoming more commonly heard even in honorific speech (by men only). Although the word is not ‘gendered’ per say, Japanese society does expect the speaker to be male.
Plural: 僕たち
※Many speakers prefer 私共. See this lesson for more on pronoun plural forms.
4. ｛わたし・わたしたち｝は、ご飯を食べます。
[I/we] swill eat dinner.
5. ｛僕・僕たちは｝カラオケに行きます。
[I’m/we’re] going to karaoke.
6. わたくしたちは仏様を拝みます。
We revere Buddha.
2nd Person Pronouns 第二人称
Second person pronouns in Japanese are particularly avoided. Although there are many words that equate to “you,” they are all very sensitive to context. That being said, we will only be studying the one word for “you” that will get you in the least amount of trouble if overused or used incorrectly.
■あなた: This is arguably the only word for “you” that pertains to a beginner. Most natives would not fault you for using it incorrectly, but try only using it when you absolutely do not know the name of the person you are talking to, as it is customary in Japan to refer to people in the third person. Even when you are asking questions like “Is this your pen?”, it is more proper to ask, “Is this [person’s name]’s pen?”
Plural: あなたたち
7. あなたの番です。
It’s your turn.
There are some limited contexts in which あなた, along with its plural form あなたたち, are fairly neutral in polite conversation when the target listeners are, in fact, second-language speakers of Japanese, as the overuse of second-person is associated with European languages from the exposure Japanese speakers have to English in school.
8. あなたたちはイギリス人ですか？
Are you all British?
Imagine you are in a train station and you notice that the person in front of you dropped their wallet. Provided they are a completely stranger to you, there is no way you would know their name. Yet, stopping a stranger requires that you speak to them in polite speech. Here, we find あなた not polite enough to warrant its use, and so we find that it is far more natural to not use a pronoun at all.
9. すみません、落とし物です！
Excuse me, you dropped something!
In the Japanese, only the noun 落とし物 forms the predicate, and because it derives from the verb 落とす meaning “to drop…” and 物 meaning “thing,” it is implied from its structural components that it was dropped by the listener.
3rd Person Pronouns 第三人称
Third-person is arguably the most common category of pronouns in spoken Japanese, largely because any name counts as a third-person pronoun.
10. テイラー君はきょう、何をしますか。
What are you going to do today, Taylor?
If we narrow our scope to just the personal pronouns for “he” and “she,” we find that they too are not used nearly as much because of how they could be interpreted differently.
■彼: This is the Japanese equivalent of “he,” but it is not used as much as its English counterpart because it is custom to refer to people with their actual name and/or title. When it is used, it is often used to mean “boyfriend” instead of “he,” especially in casual conversation.
Plural: 彼ら
■彼女: This is the Japanese equivalent of “she,” but it is not used as much as its English counterpart, the reason being that it may mean “girlfriend” in casual conversation. It is worth noting that both 彼 and 彼女 should be treated as “he” and “she” respectively in polite conversations.
Plural: 彼女たち
彼たち is essentially not used4. Instead, 彼ら may be used, which may refer to men and women collectively. However, if a group is exclusively composed of women, you should use 彼女たち. How ～たち and ～ら truly contrast will be a topic for future discussion.
11. 彼に連絡してみます。
I’ll try contacting him.
12. 彼女たちは美しいです。
They *women only* are beautiful.
13. 彼（氏）の身長は何センチですか？
How many centimeters tall is your boyfriend?
Word Note: Although 彼 may mean “boyfriend,” it is often seen as 彼氏 for this meaning.
Demonstrative Pronouns 指示代名詞
A pronoun that refers to a place or thing is called a demonstrative pronoun, or colloquially known in Japanese as こそあど – named after the first mora that starts words made from each category. Although we will revisit this topic to truly grasp them, those shown below are the most essential to everyday conversation.
| Close to Speaker | Close to Listener/ Known to Speaker Only | Far from Speaker & Listener/ Known to Speaker & Listener | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Here | There | Over There | Where |
| ここ | そこ | あそこ | どこ |
| This | That | That (Over There) | Which |
| これ | それ | あれ | どれ |
You may have noticed that “it” has not been mentioned. This is because the best equivalent happens to be それ. However, in situations in English where the word “it” would overwhelmingly be chosen, the actual referent is usually chosen in Japanese, and that is provided the subject and object are overtly stated.
When speaking about entities physically visible, there is a three-way distinction made based on the proximity of the entity from the speaker and listener. An entity may be close to the speaker, close to the listener but not the speaker, or far from both the speaker and the listener(s).
10. これを下さい。
Give me this (one), please.
11. それは何ですか？
What is that (there)?
When the entity discussed is not physically visible, there is a two-way distinction made based on who knows about the entity in question. Does only one side know about the entity, in which case それ is used, or do both the speaker and listener(s) know about it, in which case あれ is used.
12. あれは本当に難しい問題なんですね。(Mutual Recognition of Entity)
That really is a difficult problem, huh.
13. それが分かりません。(Speaker Lacks Knowledge Base)
That I don’t know.
As for the question words, this spatial distinction is not found, but what is found is other variation. For now, just know that there are two basic words for “which,” which differ by how many choices are involved: どっち (between two choices) and どれ (between 3+ choices).
14. カタルーニャはどこですか。
Where is Catalonia?
15. クリスマスにプレゼントを贈るのと貰うのとではどっちのほうが好きですか？
Between giving presents and receiving presents on Christmas, which do you like better?
16. どれを選びますか？
Which one (among these 3+ items) will you choose?
Possessive Pronouns 所有代名詞
As mentioned before, neither nouns nor pronouns conjugate in Japanese, but they do conjugate in English. The most important conjugation that pronouns have in English is the possessive conjugation. For example, the possessive form of “I” is “mine” and its adjective form is “my.” What about in Japanese?
In Japanese, possession is expressed by adding the particle の to a noun or pronoun.
| English | Japanese | English | Japanese |
| My | わたしの わたくしの ぼくの | Mine | わたしの（もの） わたくしの（もの） ぼくの（もの） |
| Your | あなたの | Yours | あなたの（もの） |
| His | 彼の | His | 彼の（もの） |
| Her | 彼女の | Hers | 彼女の（もの） |
もの means “thing,” but its presence is not necessary to create possessive pronouns. Most importantly, as was hinted at just a moment ago, the phrases that correspond to possessive adjectives in English also function like adjectives in Japanese, but they need to be placed before another noun.
17. これはわたしのペンです。
This is my pen.
The demonstrative pronouns can be used in a similar way, but for this/that/that over there, the final れ is dropped before の but only if these words aren’t completely taking the place of another noun. It’s the difference between “this” and “of this.”
18. このペンは彼の（もの）です。
This pen is his.
19. これの意味がわかりません。
I don’t know the meaning of this.
In fact, この, その, and あの are specifically referred to as 連体詞, which form an odd group of words that are translated as pre-noun adjectival words. They only go before nouns and they cannot undergo any sort of alteration. On the contrary, これの, それの, あれの, ここの, そこの, and あそこの function as typical pronoun phrases.
We will return to learning about adjectives as well as demonstrative words several times in the near future, so learning all this grammar now isn’t too important. The point trying to be made most of all is that neither nouns nor pronouns conjugate. The conjugations that do exist for them in English get expressed by some sort of suffix or a particle like how we saw the particle の functioning like the word “of.”
Question Pronouns 疑問詞
Question pronouns, also known as interrogatives, form questions. As with everything else in this lesson, we will return to this category of words in a later lesson, but for now, below are the most essential ones to get you started.
| English | Japanese |
| Who | 誰 |
| What | 何 |
| When | いつ |
| Where | どこ |
| Which | どっち (between 2) どれ (between 3+) |
20. どこに行きましたか。
Where did you go?
21. 誰ですか？
Who are (you)?
Who is (he/she)?
22. お飲み物は何がいいですか。
What would you like to drink?
Literally: What would be good for drink?
In Conclusion 最後に…
Before we head onto learning about the copula (to be), just remember that your studying of nouns and pronouns is not over yet. For now, focus on learning the nouns that can be made with the Kanji that you have learned already, and try utilizing Japanese pronouns in your English for lack of better practice until you are able to form sentences.
- Grammatical gender refers to assigning gender categories to nouns. A common means of division is masculine and feminine. Japanese does not have this feature whatsoever. If a speaker needs to describe biological sex, there are regular, common nouns for doing so. ↩︎
- Suffixes do exist to indicate plurality. However, they are not obligatory, and they tend to be more complex than just indicating more than one. ↩︎
- Situations include music, in which it will be spelled in Hiragana as a means of making the word gender neutral, as well as people in the LGBT community. When a woman does choose to use 僕, they are superimposing the normal gender roles associated with the pronoun onto themselves. ↩︎
- 彼たち is not entirely ungrammatical, but situations in which it could sound less unnatural are few and far between. ↩︎