Chances are you already know that watashi means ‘I’ in Japanese.
We hate to break it you but… there are more than 10 other ways to say ‘I’. Yikes!
We’ve decided to help you out by writing an entire article on how to say I in Japanese.
Just like Japanese honorifics, deciding how to say ‘I’ depends on things such as the situation, status, gender and age of the speaker. With so many different ways to say ‘I’, you can bring your personality into conversations because each word has its own unique feeling.
To help you master how to say I in Japanese, we have included guidelines for the formality, gender and frequency of each word.
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Watashi
私 / わたし
- Formality: Formal or casual
- Gender: Neutral
- Frequency: Common
Watashi is the standard word for ‘I’ so it gets the biggest explanation. It can be used by men and women of any age and in any situation.
It’s one of the first words you learn for the Japanese self-introduction known as jikoshoukai (自己紹介 / じこしょうかい). Watashi can mean both ‘I’ and ‘my’.
For example:
私 / わたし as ‘I’
Example 1:
Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Antonio desu.
初めまして。私はアントニオです。
はじめまして。わたしはアントニオです。
Nice to meet you. I am Antonio.
Example 2: