How to Use "I" in Japanese

Video Transcript

YUU ASAKURA: In Japan, being polite is very very important. It is such a small country and there are so many people living there, and then you want to be nice to your neighbors so that there are no bad feelings. So let us say the common example is when you have the word let us say "tea", we put the word "o" in front of it to make it sound polite, we use it "o cha" as your tea part is "cha" but you put the word "o" in front of it to make it polite, so is the word "mother." Mother itself is "kasan" but we put the word "o" in front of it "o kasan" to make it polite. And also the word sometimes itself changes. This is the word, all the words describe "I" in actually male speech and the first two are common in male/female, the last two is just for males, and basically from up to bottom it becomes very casual. The first one is very very polite. I will probably use this only for, I do not know, a job interview. It goes "watakushi"; it is polite and very formal. And next one is the one we have been using. That's the regular politeness. You can use it everywhere so it is "watashi." Yes, we will be using this for a while, and third one is very casual in a very boyish but I know a grown man still uses this in a casual speech. It is "boku." Yes, that means "I" for a male speaker. And the last one is almost too rude, but I know like among friends you can use this. It is "ore." So it depends on who you are talking to and the situation you can differentiate these words just to describe I itself but the rule is you can never be too polite. You cannot go wrong when you are polite.

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