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hi guys so i just wanted to know your opinion mostly in my lessons currently i speak formally but one problem i HATE saying watashi i really dont know what about it i dislike. i felt very limited in first pronouns and i ended up saying ore over watashi but at the time i started using ore i didnt know it could be taken as being arrogant and way too self confident i just dont know how i can break the habit, i liked ore cause it seemed easier on the tongue opposed to watashi , i think i mainly did it cause i didnt want to sound "cute" but i didnt want to come off as rude. is it fine if i just say it in informal convos or would that make things worse?. my worry isnt using a pronoun thats mainly for boys and stuff, im just worried that if what i here is true, people will find me rude. what do you guys think, opinions and advice? | |||
by lia (guest) |
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For a female, "atashi" is more feminine in casual conversations. Normally I avoid personal pronouns completely either by context or keigo. | |||
by ... (guest) | rate this post as useful |
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If you are a girl, I advise you against using "ore" as a first-person pronoun. It is for "boys," and even among "boys," it's used very informally, by boys who want to sound "macho," "tough, or "important," it can come across as very arrogant. I don't know in what circ*mstances you might get to talk to Japanese people in everyday life, but if you are a traveler to Japan and use it, people would be just surprised and would feel sorry for you thinking that you learned the language from the wrong source; if you come to Japan as a student and use it with buddies your habit would be considered very peculiar and the teacher will probably tell you not to use it; if you come to Japan for work and use it, that's a complete no-no. "Watashi" is neutral in meaning, it is not "cute" or anything. And once you start hearing native Japanese speakers speak, you will notice that it is not really emphatically pronounced "waa-taa-shii" and not that difficult on the tongue :) | |||
by ... (guest) | rate this post as useful |
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It sounds strange a girls says herself "Ore". It's alright to say between you and someone you know well(close friends or relatives) but if you say to a third person or someone you don't know well, they'll see you as a gender dysphoria (gender identity disorder) person. So you must be careful. | |||
by tokyo friend 48 | rate this post as useful |
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Girls, there are people who "boku" occasionally. | |||
by haro1210 | rate this post as useful |
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Saying ore in formal contexts is never appropriate, no matter your gender. With your friends, virtually anything goes, just be aware that because girls virtually never use it, it will be percieved as weird. But if they're really your friends, they will accept it and it will just be your little quirk, we all have one (or several). In formal contexts, watashi is the only acceptable first-person pronoun, but it's rarely used because the same meaning can be conveyed through appropriate keigo use: a verb in humble form unmistakably means that the subject is "I" (or "my group"). | |||
by Firas | rate this post as useful |
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It appears you don't yet have much real life conversational skill or interaction with Japanese. | |||
by ay (guest) | rate this post as useful |
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I don't know where you guys got the idea that using "ore" makes someone sound "tough" (let alone like a "delinquent"). My experience is that it is the standard informal first-person pronouns for males, used by virtually everybody except elementary school students. | |||
by Firas | rate this post as useful |
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Slightly off the topic: | |||
by ... (guest) | rate this post as useful |
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Most males around me (in their 20s to 50s) use "ore" all the time. I live in Gunma. Maybe there are regional differences? | |||
by Uji | rate this post as useful |
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Yeah, a girls using "ore" sounds like a red-neck. I imagine you're in your low teans. When you're young and female, you sometimes hate being so and end up acting like a stupid male. I was like that in my youth. But then I met this mannish male who suggested me a differet perspective of cuteness. Until then, I had thought that cute/kawaii things are just pretty things or feminine things. But this guy called a lot of things "cute" when they were handsome or stylish or cool or what not. Being an atashi/watashi is not that bad. All you have to do is to look for a role model you can look up to who calls herself watahi/atashi. There are cool ladies or even guys who calls her/himself watashi/atashi. And if that doesn't work, just stick to "boku." | |||
by Uco (guest) | rate this post as useful |
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thanks for all the feedback i didnt expect id get all these replies!, youre right. i guess tbh i just didnt like the idea of having a restricted usage of a first pronoun, and i thought the idea of woman having to sound polite and males getting to have more freedom made me uncomfortable. but im feeling more confident knowing that both men and women use watashi as they get older. | |||
by lia (guest) | rate this post as useful |
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the idea of woman having to sound polite and males getting to have more freedom That totally doesn't apply to reality, at least not to Japanese teans today. You will see for yourself if you ever make it to Japan ;) | |||
by Uco (guest) | rate this post as useful |
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