Japanese word for people

Addressing other people directly

In Japanese, the word “you” is seldom used to refer to a person except in the case of very close relationships. Most of the time, you will refer to people using their name (last name is more polite than first) usually followed by a name-suffix. You have probably already heard 「さん」 somewhere at some point. It is the polite name-suffix used to refer to your social superiors, elders, or people you are unfamiliar with. The most common name-suffixes are listed below.

• ～さん – Polite name-suffix (gender-neutral)
• ～君 【くん】 – Casual name-suffix (generally for males)
• ～ちゃん – Casual name-suffix (generally for females)

If you’re not sure which to use to address someone, 「さん」 with the person’s last name is generally the safest option. You can also always ask the person what they prefer to be called by.

Always sleepy

1. はい – yes (polite)
2. でも – but
3. 眠い 【ねむ・い】 – sleepy
4. それ – that
5. 大変 【たい・へん】 – hardship; rough time; tough
6. 大丈夫 【だい・じょう・ぶ】 – ok
7. いつも – always

Toggle Translations

先生： スミスさんは、元気ですか。
スミス： はい、元気です。
先生： リーさんは、元気ですか？
リー： はい、元気です。でも、眠いです。
先生： それは、大変です。
スミス： 大丈夫です。リーさんはいつも眠いです。

Teacher: Smith-san, (are you) well?
Smith: Yes, (I’m) fine.
Teacher: Lee-san, (are you) well?
Lee: Yes, (I’m) fine. But (I’m) sleepy.
Teacher: That’s tough.
Smith: (It’s) ok. Lee-san is always sleepy.

Talking about yourself

We already saw that it’s usually understood implicitly by context when you’re talking about yourself. However, there are times you may still want to refer to yourself as a topic to say, “As for me…” or “me too”.

There are several options for referring to yourself depending on level of politeness and gender.

List of different words meaning me, myself, and I

1. 私 【わたし】 – polite, gender-neutral
2. 私 【わたくし】 – same Kanji as 「わたし」 but this reading is only used in very formal situations
3. 僕 【ぼく】 – polite, masculine
4. あたし – casual, very feminine
5. 俺 【おれ】 – very casual and masculine

How’s the pizza?

1. ピザ – pizza
2. おいしい – tasty
3. ううん – no (casual)

Toggle Translations

ジョン： ピザは、おいしい？
リー： ううん。
アリス： 私は、おいしい。

John: As for pizza, tasty?
Lee: No.
Alice: As for me, tasty.

This short conversation highlights a very important point. The topic only brings up the general topic of the conversation and does not necessarily indicate the subject of any one particular sentence. The last sentence 「私は、おいしい」 would be very strange if it meant “I am tasty”. However, because “I” is only a general topic, from the context of the entire conversation, we know that Alice is saying that as for her, the pizza is tasty.

Addressing family members

We’ve already encountered the honorific prefix 「お」 in 「お元気」. This prefix is used in all sorts of words and comes from a Kanji which can be read as either 「ご」 or 「お」. However, determining which reading to use is usually not an issue as this Kanji is usually written in Hiragana.

1. お金 【お・かね】 – money
2. ご飯 【ご・はん】 – rice; meal
3. お茶 【お・ちゃ】 – tea

The reason we’re looking at it here is because of how the honorific prefix is used to refer to family members. The basic idea is to use the honorific prefix when referring to somebody else’s family. You would not use honorifics to refer to your own family unless you are speaking to someone within your family. We will learn more about the concept of inner and outer circle for honorifics in a much later chapter.

The list below is by no means complete and only covers the more common words for the primary family members.

Family member chart

	One’s own family	Someone else’s family
Family	家族【か・ぞく】	ご家族【ご・か・ぞく】
Parents	両親【りょう・しん】	ご両親【ご・りょう・しん】
Mother	母【はは】	お母さん【お・かあ・さん】
Father	父【ちち】	お父さん【お・とう・さん】
Wife	妻【つま】	奥さん【おく・さん】
Husband	夫【おっと】	ご主人【ご・しゅ・じん】
Older Sister	姉【あね】	お姉さん【お・ねえ・さん】
Older Brother	兄【あに】	お兄さん【お・にい・さん】
Younger Sister	妹【いもうと】	妹さん【いもうと・さん】
Younger Brother	弟【おとうと】	弟さん【おとうと・さん】
Son	息子【むすこ】	息子さん【むすこ・さん】
Daughter	娘【むすめ】	娘さん【むすめ・さん】

Smith’s parents

1. 山田 【やま・だ】 – Yamada (surname)
2. アジア人 【あじあ・じん】 – Asian (person)
3. いいえ – no
4. でも – but
5. 母 【はは】 – (one’s own) mother
6. 日本人 【に・ほん・じん】 – Japanese (person)
7. そう – so
8. お父さん 【お・とう・さん】 – father
9. 父 【ちち】 – (one’s own) father
10. アメリカ人 【アメリカ・じん】 – American (person)
11. なるほど (exp) – I see

Toggle Translations

山田： スミスさんは、アジア人ですか？
スミス： いいえ。でも、母は、日本人です。
山田： そうですか。お父さんは？
スミス： 父はアメリカ人です。
山田： なるほど。

Yamada: Smith-san, are (you) Asian (person)?
Smith: No. But, (my) mother is Japanese.
Yamada: Is that so? As for (your) father?
Smith: (My) father is American.
Yamada: I see.

This post provides a comprehensive list of Japanese words that describe various personalities (性格, せいかく). Which one describes you the most?

Basic/Standard Words

明るい (あかるい)

“cheerful, energetic” (literally “bright”)

Synonym: 陽気（ようき）

暗い (くらい)

“gloomy” (literally “dark”)

Synonym: 陰気（いんき）

優しい (やさしい)

“kind”

Synonym: 親切 (しんせつ)

冷たい (つめたい)

“unkind” (literally “cold”)

冷静（れいせい）

“calm”

面白い（おもしろい）

“funny”

人見知り（ひとみしり）

“be shy or nervous when meeting someone for the first time”

礼儀正しい（れいぎただしい）

“polite”

せっかち

“hasty, impatient”

短気 (たんき)

“short-tempered”

わがまま

“selfish, self-indulgent”

謙虚 (けんきょ)

“modest”

思いやりのある (おもいやりのある)

“considerate”

ケチ

“stingy”

cf: 守銭奴 (shusendo) Meaning “Protect-Money Person” (Miser) in Japanese

負けず嫌い (まけずぎらい)

“competitive, always hate to lose”

優柔不断 (ゆうじゅうふだん)

“indecisive, wishy-washy”

臆病（おくびょう）

“cowardly”

誠実（せいじつ）

“sincere”

頑固（がんこ）

“stubborn”

几帳面（きちょうめん）

“methodical, meticulous”

真面目（まじめ）

“serious, earnest”

ずぼら

“lazy, sloppy”

Synonym: 怠惰（たいだ）

神経質 (しんけいしつ)

“fussy, fastidious, sensitive”

完璧主義 (かんぺきしゅぎ)

“perfectionist”

変人 (へんじん)

“wierdo”

変態 (hentai)

“perverted”

Words with 的

社交的 (しゃこうてき)

“social, outgoing”

積極的 (せっきょくてき)

“active, proactive”

消極的 (しょうきょくてき)

“passive”

楽観的 (らっかんてき)

“optimistic”

Synonym: ポジティブ

悲観的 (ひかんてき)

“pessimistic”

Synonym: ネガティブ

自己中心的 (じこちゅうしんてき)

“self-centred”

Often abbreviated as 自己中 (じこちゅう) in a casual conversation.

Synonym: 自分勝手 (じぶんかって)

Words with 屋

Note that “屋” is sometimes omitted in the following words (except for the first word 気分屋, which is always used as it is).

気分屋（きぶんや）

“fickle, changeable, moody”

(cf) 気分 (きぶん): “feeling”

Note that ムーディー (“moody”) in Japanese means “romantic”; see Confusing English Loan Words in Japanese

恥ずかしがり屋（はずかしがりや）

“shy”

(cf) 恥(は)ずかしい: “feel embarrassed”

Synonym: 照れ屋（てれや）

目立ちたがり屋（めだちたがりや）

“love to stand out/gather attention”

(cf) 目立つ (めだつ): “stand out”

寂しがり屋 （さびしがりや）

“tend to feel lonely (and hence like to be with someone)”

(cf) 寂しい (さびしい): “lonely”

めんどくさがり屋(や)

“lazy, slacker, easily find things めんどくさい (‘bothersome, laborious’)”

Slang

隠キャ/陽キャ (いんきゃ/ようきゃ)

“introvert/extravert”

Short for 陰気(いんき)/陽気(ようき)なキャラクター : “gloomy/cheerful character”

コミュ障 (こみゅしょう)

“suck at communication”;

Short for コミュニケーション障害 (“communication disorder”) but does not indicate the actual disease. See more at コミュ障 (komyushou) Meaning ‘Suck at Communication’ in Japanese

オタク (otaku)

“nerd; be extremely interested in certain things, e.g. anime/manga/idols/trains”

It used to be a derogatory term for nerdy people, but nowadays it’s not that negative, but rather neutral.

(cf) オタク気質(きしつ): “Otaku disposition”

English Loan Words

アウトドア/インドア

“outdoor/indoor type of a person”

シャイ

“shy”

Synonyms: 照れ屋 (てれや), 内気 (うちき), 恥ずかしがり屋（はずかしがりや）

フレンドリー

“friendly”

Synonym: 気さくな (きさくな)

ピュア

“pure”

Synonym: 純粋 (じゅんすい), 無垢（むく）

クール

“cool, calm”

Japanese-English Words

マイペース (“my pace”)

“laidback, always do things at one’s own pace”

ナイーブ (“naïve”)

“sensitive” (NOT “naïve”)

(cf) Confusing English Loan Words in Japanese

S/M (エス/エム)

S: “aggressive; bossy; like to dominate someone”
M: “be passive; like to be ordered/teased; be very patient”

S and M stand for “Sadist” and “Masochist”, respectively, and these terms are used very casually in Japanese.

マザコン/ファザコン/シスコン/ブラコン

“those who love their mother/father/sister/brother excessively”

Short for “mother/father/sister/brother complex”, which are Japanese-English terms. Here, the term “complex” alludes to the psychoanalytic term “Oedipus complex”. Learn more at Japanese Wasei-Eigo List (“Japlish”) and Their Meanings.

Advanced Words

お人好し （おひとよし）

“too nice to others; gullible”

凝り性（こりしょう）

“a perfectionist, meticulous about one’s work, hobby, etc”

(cf) 凝る (こる): 1. “care about tiny details”; 2. “(a part of the body) gets stiff”

天邪鬼 （あまのじゃく）

“have a twisted mind and prefer doing the opposite to what one is told/expected to do, or what a majority of people do”

(e.g.)
– Feel like studying hard after an exam period is over
– Eat shaved ice (かき氷) in winter

Often written in hiragana rather than kanji

お節介（おせっかい）

“nosy, fond of meddling in someone’s affairs and trying to help them without being asked”

It’s used both as an adjective (e.g. お節介な人) or a noun “the act of meddling”. As a verb, it is usually used in the phrase “お節介を焼(や)く”: “give unwanted help to someone”.

cf:  ありがた迷惑 (arigata meiwaku) Meaning “Unwelcome Favour” in Japanese

八方美人（はっぽうびじん）

“be superficially nice to everyone, often in a two-faced and sycophantic manner” (literally “a beautiful person from eight directions”)

Its connotation is similar to that of “a chameleon person” or “a yes man” in English. While 美人 (びじん) usually refers to beautiful women, this idiom can describe both men and women.

(e.g.)
彼女は話す相手によって意見をコロコロ変える八方美人だから、信用できない。
I cannot trust her because she is a 八方美人 who often changes her opinions a lot depending on whom she talks with.

天真爛漫 (てんしん らんまん)

“vibrant, energetic, open, artless and natural, childlike”

Usually used to describe women, e.g. 好きな女性のタイプは、天真爛漫な人です！ (“My type of girl is someone with an open, vibrant and childlike personality!”)

Synonym: 無邪気（むじゃき）

おしとやか

“quiet, placid, graceful, and sophisticated”

Usually used to describe women

三枚目 (さんまいめ)

“funny, comical type (of a man)”

In contrast, 二枚目 (にまいめ) means “cool, handsome type (of a man)”. Both words originate from kabuki, a traditional Japanese performance art.