Ryo's lesson: part 2 "I (私)"

Hey guys, how's it going?
Is everything all right?
(Yes!)
That's good!

Did you see my last lesson about "～る"?
http://lang-8.com/journal/124509

A lot of my friends (actually four) liked my Japanese lesson, so I decided to write"part 2"


Although this is a lesson for you, I'd really appreciate if you would correct my English. Because it's Lang-8!!



In English, everybody uses "I".
Boys, girls, guys, gays, young guys, and old guys, they all use "I", right?

It is very interesting for me.
Because I usually use "ぼく", but 99% of girls don't use "ぼく".
I have never used "私（わたくし）", but some people use it.



So, today's Ryo's lesson is about "I (私)".



There are many many words that mean "I" in Japanese.

私　（わたし）
私　（わたくし）
僕　（ぼく）
俺　（おれ）
自分　（じぶん）
我輩（わがはい）
わし
拙者　（せっしゃ）

and more.


I'll explane the meaning of each "I" and give you examples.


～～　私（わたし）　～～
私（わたし） is very usual.
70% of girls (elementary, junior high, high schools)
85% of women (20~100 years old), including my mom and sister
50% of men (20 ~ 100 years old), including my dad

But I (27 years old)don't use it.
Boys don't use it.
When I was in university, most guys (20~25 years old) didn't use it.


I think it's because 私（わたし） is kind of formal.




～～　私（わたくし）　～～
Oh, I have never used it.
Because 私（わたくし） is really really really formal.
Prince and Princess will use it.
But even us, sometimes we might have to use it when it was a really really really really formal situation.





～～　僕　（ぼく）　and 俺　（おれ）～～
I usually use ぼく.

40% of boys use ぼく.
50% of boys use おれ.
40% of guys (20 ~ 40 years old) use ぼく, including me!
25% of guys (20 ~ 40 years old) use おれ

"ぼく" is kind of a little bit more formal than "おれ".
おれ　was more usual than ぼく　when I was young (elementary, junior high, high schools). I used おれ that time.

ぼく、おれ　are basically used by young guys ( ~ 40 years old).

But 98% of women and girls don't use ぼく or おれ, because these are for men.





～～　自分　（じぶん）～～
It's difficult to explane, but some people use 自分（じぶん）.
Here are examples:
「自分はカレーが好きです！」　(I like curry.)
「自分の夢は社長になることです！」 (My dream is to be a president .)
「自分は彼の意見に賛成です！」 (I agrre with his opinion.)

Actually, I used it a couple of times before.
It's used in a kind of formal situation.
Or, people use it when they wanna be formal.
I think women don't use 自分. It is a word for men.




～～　我輩（わがはい）～～
You don't have to learn this word, because 99.99% of people don't use it.

But there is a famous book, "我輩は猫である" by 夏目漱石.
This is a famous sentence in the book:
「我輩は猫である。名前はまだ無い。」 (I am a cat. But I don't have my name yet.)
Although we don't use 我輩 when we say "I", everybody knows the famous sentence.

Therefore, sometime people may use that in their diary or poem, blog.

If I have to write a poem using that, it will be like this:

「我輩は普通の２７歳の男だ。　まだ夕飯は食べてない。」
(I am a 27 years old guy. I have not had a dinner yet. )

「我輩は今アメリカに住んでいる。　恋人はいない。」
(I live in the US. I don't have a girlfriend.)

「我輩は背が高い。　でもバスケットは得意じゃない。」
(I am tall. But I am not good in basketball.)

...hmmm, I'm not good. But you can try!
「我輩は～～～～。　～～～～ない。」
（I am ~~~. But I'm not ~~~. ）




～～　わし　～～
It's a word for older men (70 ~ 100 years old).
But only 5% of them use it.
Women don't use.




～～　拙者　（せっしゃ）　～～
It's a word for SAMURAI (侍　さむらい).







Wow, that's a lot.

Did you like today's lesson?

If you have any questionS, let me know.




Thanks