Japanese People Rarely Say "Anata", What Do We Say?

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[@ThatJapaneseManYuta]

Learn Japanese with Yuta: bit.ly/3xF82oC

[@JSD324777]

Sort of similar topic, what about for how to handle he/she? I know the textbook term is 彼 or 彼女 but those are also used to refer to boyfriend/girlfriend, right?

[@lizc6645]

Interesting 🙂. When the guy yelled Baka I laughed 😁.

[@FrAudkunA4201]

@@JSD324777 they can be used if you do not remember their name of their potition. Depending on the situation you could also use bolder words like"あの男(that man)*

[@柯書凱-k4o]

No thanks, you put down textbooks over your service. Horrible.

[@Madchris8828]

I love the interaction "every Japanese is a perv" are you a perv as well?" So hilariously honest I love it 😂

[@MaryAnnSweetAngel]

they looked straight at the camera as well hahahaha 🤣😭

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

The hight of refinement!

[@person880]

I hear "anata" and "kimi" a lot in songs, but I would think that it's not rude when there is no specified person being addressed, and if they aren't mentioning any person by name. In a song, it's a general "you," which seems to be how the "anata" in the survey question example is used as well.

[@kamo7293]

what I've learned is that kimi is an antiquated term for you, and it's still used in songs and titles cause its quick and snappy

[@mohammadbashammakh]

Fun fact , in Arabic the word anta انت actually means you

[@Madchris8828]

I believe anta in Japanese is a more aggressive way of saying anata haha. That's interesting

[@diablow1411]

Fun fact again: 'anta' in Japanese also means you, but it is very informal. Used as a rude way to address someone mostly.

[@mohammadbashammakh]

@@Madchris8828 but in Arabic it’s not aggressive at all , it’s a way to address someone, with a male you say anta انت , with a female you say anty انتي , see the difference?

[@GH-nf6pc]

I know right hehe

[@MedAmynM]

Yes lol, i have thought about this in the past and thought it was cool that it's similar to arabic.

[@elijahallen8227]

I’m realizing that this was the first time I’ve ever seen real Japanese people arguing in Japanese 😆 part of me liked to think that Japanese people never fought one another

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

Whaaaa . . . that's cute, as Itachi would say.

[@MaryAnnSweetAngel]

i never heard someone use baka in real life haha when i hear people say baka irl i just imagine an angry smol anime girl saying that 😭

[@Reymax164]

That are you thinking is too unrealistic. They are still humans 😆

[@elimalinsky7069]

"Japanese people never fought one another". Japanese people during the Sengoku period: "the neighbouring daimyo insulted my honour, I'm gonna raise an army and invade his lands".

[@dastanjan320]

@@elimalinsky7069 I like to imagine damyos speaking to eachother "Temee... ore-Sama no chin-chin koroshitte, Konoyaroo! Shine!

[@herpyderpy2869]

Insults in English: *yells swear word* Insults in Japanese: *says "you" and removes respect particle*

[@wiandryadiwasistio2062]

idk but… HEY YOU!

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

That would be like telling someone, 'oi!'

[@JordanTwitches]

Although I never feel the need to comment, I just wanted to express how much I appreciate you. You've helped me learn and understand Japanese so much, I originally wanted to learn Japanese to understand Anime but as I learned more about Japanese I also learned that I'm a huge fan of Japan and its culture. Since as a 16-year-old I can't go to Japan myself, this is a lot of help! Thank you so much.

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

You can go to Japan

[@Aerolupus]

The omission of subjects and/or objects in Japanese (because they should be obvious from the context) is one of the main reasons why machine translations from Japanese often do not work all that well. My colleagues at work are confident enough to use machine translation to English, to chat with people who don't speak Japanese, but it still causes confusion from time to time because if you don't add subjects and objects in Japanese, the machine translation will just assume what they are in English. Results can be funny sometimes.

[@NathanHigiers]

FINALLY a video that isn't clickbait going like : "You don't say anata and that's it, F off now." and actually teaches usefull stuff. Kudos to you.

[@mell561]

I love your gesticulations Yuta it makes your speech interesting in some way

[@Rokudaimedono]

Japanese: the language that has so many words for "you" (anata, anta, kimi, omae, sochira, kisama, temee, etc (those last two are extra rude btw. Do NOT use them. Unless you WANT to start a fight of course, in that case go right ahead)), yet hates to use any of them, and tries its hardest to avoid all of them. 😐This is something that will never stop baffling me. Like, why are there so many words for "you" if you're not supposed to use them? My language literally only has exactly ONE word for "you", but we use it the same way as in English, i.e constantly. Also, textbooks and Japanese teachers generally won't tell you this, but there actually IS an entirely safe way to address someone as "you" that is ALWAYS 100% polite, and that is the word "otaku". And no, not the otaku that refers to fans of anime, manga or other things. However, safe and polite though it may be, it's also mostly rather unnatural and weird, especially these days (it was more common in the past).

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

WOW! I would have never thought that there was a polite you and that it's otaku!

[@elimalinsky7069]

One of the reasons why English no longer uses the words thou and thee is because they were considered rude when speaking to a person with a higher social status, and with time the stigma against thou and thee became so prevalent that the thou and thee type of address was replaced with you and ye respectively (the subject/object distinction was later also dropped and we were just left with the form you). Historically thou/thee was used when addressing one person and you/ye when addressing multiple people, and by way of French influence in singular form for people of higher social status, people of older age or just being polite to strangers.

[@wasabichips933]

You're looking at it the wrong way around. The reason so many synonyms for "you" developed in Japanese is most likely precisely because it is generally something you want to avoid. Initially there may have been just one or two ways to say "you" but then those started to feel too direct and thus other more roundabout ways to say "you" developed until those started to feel too direct and so on and so forth. If, like English, "you" is not a particularly sensitive word then there is no reason for people to invent other ways to express the same idea. They would just use "you."

[@khalilahd.]

I learned this yesterday! ❤

[@lucas8409]

Thank you so much for this video Yuta. I'm learning japanese by myself, so your videos are really usefull for me. Greetings from Argentina 🇦🇷

[@TheOtakuDude]

*useful

[@Merely_Fantastical]

I'm so glad I found this! I'm currently exchanging letters with my Japanese friend as a way to get better at the language and looking back now I've definitely made some grammar mistakes that could've been avoided. I'm so thankful she's very understanding but I don't want to keep making these mistakes. Thank you for explaining, I have now subbed!

[@missGolightly420]

This was very helpful and came to me at the perfect time. Thank you Yuta!!

[@shayneshinkai1772]

I've learned so much from you, Yuta. Arigatou!

[@OtakuDaiKun]

I love Japan and its language, but this is one part about it that really frustrates me. It's way too dependent on context, making technical speech really hard to clarify. It's even sillier when you know the reason for not using anata is because it's confrontational. It's like walking on eggshells. Obviously I'd never do this, but it makes me wanna use "omae" instead to show what's actually rude.

[@Nekotaku_TV]

Really fascinating to see that public argument, it's very rare.

[@1Maklak]

Surprising, given how often Anata is used in anime.

[@iBrokdiGame]

The word anata i heard from sakura when she calls sasuke anata.

[@斗霞]

Great video! In addition, in online spaces I've seen it's common for girls to use the words 主さん/主様 as substitutes for 'you' towards people you don't know or aren't close enough with! Although of course 主様 is more formal and I normally only see it between people doing business such as trading idol merchandise

[@nny2055]

Haha お主も悪よのう。Onushi mo waru yo nou Can be translated as "You're just trolling right?"

[@Soumein]

Sensei - Teacher Oniichan - Big Brother Oneechan - Big Sister Otouto - little brother Imouto - little sister Kouhai - underclassman Seito - student Senpai - ???

[@learnjapan]

Exactly! The more we use Japanese language with the native speakers, あなた (anata) is always omitted when it comes to conversations! The last time i hear it was, when my friend’s wife (which is Japanese) said あなたね (with a joke nuance) to him.

[@3210vca]

Yuta is very articulate. His commad of English can put to shame many native English speakers!!!!! t

[@blackburdy5261]

but tell me why i always hear anata in song lyrics.

[@BGDMusic]

syllables are convenient

[@nicbentulan]

@Chief that explains kaguya-sama? Anata ni iwasetai Kokoro no kabe wo (kokoro no kabe wo) Yaburu ai no kokuhaku

[@nicbentulan]

Anata ni iwasetai Kokoro no kabe wo (kokoro no kabe wo) Yaburu ai no kokuhaku

[@marmoo5356]

The meaning remains the same. It is more lovey-dovey to say "you" when talking romantically in song/poetry, even in English. Additionally, and most importantly it allows a connection between the listener and the song as the words aren't specifically targeting a single name. (For the same reason, many Isekai anime MC's are plain looking so the watcher can create connections with the character)

[@cloudkitt]

Yes I wondered if he would mention that. Maybe it's usable when it's a more "general" you? Or maybe the three syllables are just useful for filling a line XD

[@davidjohnston1374]

I've heard a Japanese Friend use "Ore wa" and when I asked him about it, he explained it's the way they use "I" in Osaka as apposed to Watashi in Tokyo but i never heard him say "Anata"

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

Interesting

[@rawkhawk414]

It's interesting how similar "gu" is to the French "gout" (I ain't changing my keyboard layout for the accent circonflexe), from Latin "gustatus". Which in French and Latin mean taste or flavour, as opposed to ingredient. Still an interesting coincidence though I wouldn't be surprised if somehow there was a connection because, ya know, it's a small world after all or w/e. Though I looked it up cuz I watch your channel due to my love of languages. Apparently gu also means something similar to "tool" like "tools for the job"? That's cool that it means ingredient too. I love difficult to translate nuance (I think you do too Yuta lol). Humans are wonderful. edit: So 具's etymology from ancient China is "to prepare". Very neat. I love that--I see how it's come to mean ingredient, implement, or tool. No idea how 具 was read then though I've heard Japanese has often retained pronunciations similar to whatever the Chinese pronunciation was when they started using the kanji. Funny enough in modern Chinese languages the reading is "ju". Funny to me since in English we call the sound in "gu" hard G and the sound in "ju" soft G or J. The hard G and soft G sound are not really similar sounds, compared to say K and hard G, which are an unvoiced and voiced pair. Or even Japanese "u" and Chinese "u" which are different but have similar lip positions. Saying "con" with your vocal folds active the whole way through will instead make the sound "gone". Compare how some English dialects say "uz" and not "us". But saying "gone" with a soft G get "john"? I have thought this was strange ever since learning the unvoiced variant of the J or soft G sound (e.g. George, just) is the "ch" sound in "chair". I wonder why we see the "G to J" sound development happening in more than one language exchange lol. I sorta went on this tangent because voicing and unvoicing was something that clicked for me when I started learning Japanese since it's an acknowledged feature of the language (e.g. Fujisan vs Hyoozan, san to zan. S and Z are unvoiced and voiced variants of the same sounds).

[@jasonbrennan9918]

Japan's antipathy for pronouns aside, I do think the problem is that as learners we aren't always sure what is 'obvious' and just sort of err on the side of giving more information rather than less...

[@PovertyBench]

I’ve been listening to Japanese music a lot recently and I’ve noticed “kimi” pops up quite frequently when referring to a second person

[@maciekkrzeminski3040]

I find it funny how I am learning japanese in english. I am polish btw haha

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

Polish is a cool language too!

[@thetafritz9868]

Hi Yuta, I've been rewatchingHunter x Hunter and I noticed that Komugi has an unusual way of speaking Japanese, and I thought it would be cool if you made a video on how she speaks Japanese

[@sin-YA]

「お前」はマジで注意必要だな 使われることを極端に嫌う人もいるし

[@XSpImmaLion]

xD I feel most of what I know about Japanese, which isn't much to be fair, is old fashioned. The Anata used by wives to address their husbands is definitely one of those.... Anata, or the contraction with "anta", easy to remember because it's the Portuguese word for "tapir"... xD and it's also used to call someone stupid down here. xD An expression like "you moron" in some regions of Brazil can be translated to "sua anta". xD

[@lesterbarnes2010]

In this movie from the director Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, 偶然と想像, Gūzen to sōzō; Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, they use the word anata all the time. Is it because of being produced for an international audience? Did you as a Japanese native realize this as well? Or do the actors don't speak average Japanese? This anata-topic is very often discussed, but on the other hand, the word is used quite often in movies and podcasts as well.

[@CaptainChysa]

Hi Yuta, I just subscribed to the Emails. I've been doing Duolingo for a year now, every day one lesson. And I'm now at the Kanji parts, which Duolingo doesn't teach that well. I don't really watch anime that much anymore, but I did play through all of the Yakuza games. But the characters either spoke mostly in rude or Kansai Japanese, but it was real Japanese! I'm curious about how much this will help me. I also plan on going to Japan one day for actual language lessons.

[@lbyblbab8496]

what a great video and great examples thank you!!

[@gogakushayemi]

Was just talking about this with a Japanese student. Funnily, Taiwan uses "anata" to mean sweetheart, though. Kills me every time. Like Chinese-Chinese-Chinese-ANATA-Chinese-Chinese-Chinese.

[@cantsu]

I'm very new to Japanese and honestly after seeing this I now understand why some Japanese people don't bother learning English because of how different it is

[@dmanden1242]

Actually, the only times I see that word (あなた)is on medical forms and survey’s. I have never heard that word being used.

[@smeksii_yozhik]

3:42 yeah, that one... didn't need translating lmao

[@pheunithpsychic-watertype9881]

I was worried about how I should should use this word since learning about it on a language podcast

[@electricfishfan]

It sounds like あなた is being used in these examples in situations where “you” is being used assertively, by people who are exercising their perceived right to assert/establish information about another person. I hesitantly compare it to how in English, some songs and especially survey questions can carry the same tone, where they can start to feel like you’re being drilled or profiled by someone who doesn’t have sufficient justification to do so, which can provoke/convey defensiveness and hostility. Sort of also like, how a friend or family member could finish your sentence for you and it might be caring, but when a stranger does it it’s rudely silencing you and overstepping.

[@steezmunky]

Hey Yuta, anata did a great job on this video.

[@LucTaylor]

(貴様) Kisama my favorite word for you! Also てめえ (teme) as in てめえの好きな色? (BTW I'm joking - I did expect Yuta to elaborate a bit after mentioning kisama though)

[@TheBlueGoldenHawk]

The funny thing is, kisama 貴様 used to be a polite way to address someone -- notice the first kanji 貴 used to mean nobility, high rank/status, love/respect, etc. and sama 様 is a very respectful honorific to use after someone's name, more so than "san" 「さん」

[@adriellightvale8140]

@@TheBlueGoldenHawk I get it... it's sarcasm.

[@joshhua7795]

Just came here to thank you.

[@VirginiaSuperSandLegend]

お前 (omae) and 貴様 (kisama) are actually the most common ways to adress people. Especially with your boss it's very much appreciated.

[@yu-fv6ti]

😂

[@nileredsexperiment834]

If u want them to get away 50ft from you that is lol

[@jazznik2]

I knew before that "anata" was somewhat rude and that "omae" was even ruder so I wondered what the polite way of saying "you" was. Now I know that the polite way is to not say it at all. That's hard for an American to do but at least now I know.

[@geralt7144]

Now I understand, why I still full get remarks in the Language course for leaving out あなた and 君. Wonder why courses are not more casual

[@miiracreates09]

With not really using "I, my, you, your", etc this makes it tougher to understand the specific details in song lyrics. I wonder if Yuta could maybe go over interpreting Japanese songs?

[@Nesyulett]

Me too.

[@tobynmanthorpe]

I hear "anata" a lot as lyrics in music.

[@hooters3721]

Thank you so much, i learn alot from you

[@mingyuhuang8944]

LOVE your new hairstyle mate, keep it up. Much more manly and cool

[@nicbentulan]

Anata ni iwasetai Kokoro no kabe wo (kokoro no kabe wo) Yaburu ai no kokuhaku

[@emythious]

Arigato my friend great video 🤘😁

[@hikaritakashi]

I'm a new subscriber and LOVE all your content. Thank you for all the effort you put into your videos!!

“In Japan, we don’t really use the word you” …later in the video… “we have four words for you: anata, kimi, omae, kisama”

[@kekenoob]

Having words for something doesn't mean they are commonly used. In English there are plenty of archaic words that are no longer commonly used.

[@CamembertDave]

It's almost like existing and being used are different things.

[@mfreak1126]

Delete your comment or more people will know how small your brain is.

[@Kamppix]

You really had to use domekano as an example :D

[@bobfranklin2572]

I think SO many of these issues with super long sentences and overusing anata and watashi etc come from people trying to speak English in Japanese. To just directly translate everything

[@soyosugawara2658]

I think this question is very handy to learn.

[@kamo7293]

one of the ways I got confused was when you translate from Japanese to English naturally (as many anime subbers try their best to do) there is a bit of a divide. words like anata oniichan and so forth are replaced with what we would use in English, so anata is replaced with dear and oniichan is replaced with their name. stuff like that was weird when I first started watching anime

[@tethler]

This video is super helpful. I'm having to converse with coworkers every day with my basic level of Japanese and it sounds like I'm over-using あなた. I'll have to be a bit more careful from now on.

[@TheBombayMasterTony]

4:43 was funny. These videos explaining the usage of a single word are fun to watch.

[@Alya-hq2lu]

Can I still say it to my online japanese friend? he doesn’t seem to have a problem with it

[@michaelleue7594]

Well, obviously it's going to have different overtones coming from a nonnative speaker. The point is that it's outdated, not that it's wrong, in any case.

[@haltsmaul.]

How would you go about addressing a member of an audience or a pupil in class, assuming you don't know their name of course?

[@to_ru_kw]

I would use “Sochira no kata” (you over there), “Mina sama/san” (you guys)

[@thisisnotmyname4499]

In the example at 5:29, is the tone like getting in a quick jab at your friend and saying, "I wasn't talking to YOU"?

[@mikukumiku]

My mentor told me to just keep pronouns like "Kisama" and "Omae" in mind for when I read manga or play video games, because that's the only place I'll ever encounter it unless I was actively looking for a Japanese person to fight with according to them, haha.

[@bloxycola3]

hearing japanese people arguing is like hearing that one friend that nevers swears say "fuck"

[@1995guitandre]

terrace house!!!! Always loved that reality

[@bounce9434]

Learning Japanese is going to tough for me- I like specifics 😭

[@Shahanshah_Xeno]

Is Minna No Nihongo a bad textbook? If so would you recommend any others?

[@Grim_Beard]

What about 'your', particularly for people whose name you don't know? For example, 'excuse me, is this your umbrella?'. Would it be すみません、あなたの傘ですか ? Without 'あなたの' aren't you asking 'is this an umbrella?'

[@zaheer4511]

His example's videos just get funnier

[@tonygee6418]

So, the more vague you are, the more polite (?)

[@zhangruoran]

I like the song called "anata" by Kosaka Akiko.

[@mfaizsyahmi]

To put it one way, it's as awkward in Japanese as "thou" is in contemporary English.

[@name3583]

Yuta, usually in writing sometimes there is a typo. Is it the same in writing kanji? And do the Japanese use correction fluid?

[@ln5321]

You showed great restraint in not using the obvious example for "omae"

[@yun1666]

貴様 敬語

[@catface101]

The idea of strangers calling you big brother is cute

[@Reymax164]

We also do that.

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

Yeah . . .

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

@@Reymax164 Really? Which language! Actually, the language of the ethnic group I'm half a part of, Ewe, is similar

[@Reymax164]

@@user-yc3fw6vq5n Filipino, We also use our word for big brother/sister (ate/kuya) to strangers or anyone that few years older than us.

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

@@Reymax164 Ah, maybe Filipino is distantly related to Japanese!

[@funnyboy932]

4:37 you can use oba-chan/oji-san and mybe you got a slap in the face

[@Ostsol]

That clears up a scene I remember in Rahxephon (yeah, many, many years ago). If I remember correctly, someone's name was asked by saying, "Anata wa?" He _was_ being a little aggressive and rude, though. Much later on, a character reflected on how hurtful the word "anata" could be, in the context in which it was used.

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

That's fascinating!

[@igly3542]

So is onisan and oneesan similar to using sir or mam in English?

[@kingofsus572]

I love terrace house

[@kingdomkey63]

The only time I have heard it is in detective conan. Kisaki eri uses it to talk to mouri her ex husband.

[@aquielos]

in Japanese animes , I think it is more common to see the characters say "Anata". While in real life, the Japanese don't really use that word. From several videos including this (another one is Ruhr, a pretty Japanese-Turkish girl's channel), I just know that the Japan anime are not very good to learn "real" daily Japanese speech and conversations.

[@marmoo5356]

Many people learning Japanese will not have spoken with a Japanese person through the duration of their study, so it can be risky teaching words like お前 to new learners because they wont be able to grasp the crazy effect it can have when used in real life to someone. If you are reading this and are starting out learning Japanese: DON'T use お前 or 貴様 and be careful with impretive form (Can be very rude if not softened with particles or with certain words)

[@aegisofavalon]

Anata, as dear, and misleading the concern, to whom it may, and possibly might, seen as feets.

[@widowpeak6142]

Funny enough, from watching anime, I was under the impression there is no 'you' in japanese, because they always refer to people by their name or title!

[@MetoFulcurm]

I've heard in an anime or Sekiro iirc. Omae-san was a common way to call out to someone. Also there were other ways like Onushi, Danna-sama.

[@Tatenak]

It's pretty much how English uses pitch, tone, and enunciation to show emotional intent, just Japanese uses more words. XD

[@mehmetyusufer7649]

From a scene of Classroom of Elite, an elegant girl like a queen says "anata wa tashika shikurasu na?" (I am not sure I typed it right sorry :) kind of like "are you from class C?" ) to someone that she is not familiar with. Can you explain this scene?

[@herman1francis]

It would be たしかに

[@harishankar-db3to]

ありがとうございました

[@hontouhahitorikiri]

私も変態ですよ

[@nelia6118]

There is alone bag on station on a bench. You see some guy over there. How you going to ask him if it's his bag? Can i use "anata" (Sumimasen, anata no kaban desu ka)?

[@fxstreamer238]

ok you got me man

[@gegi4577]

the most confusing thing for me is that anata is still sung in songs

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

But it's normal for songs to have things that would be dramatic to say in real life . . .

[@bokumo7063]

Is complimenting the sound of someone's voice a very nice thing to say in Japan? I got the impression that it is a well-received and delightful compliment. But it's not a common compliment in America.

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

I have heard that "uchi (I)" is used by the Aomori people, other than by Kansai females.

[@funnyboy932]

5:54 who know kinchiro from (ken of North start)( anime charater ) He use it all the time

[@imjwin]

What’s up Broski 🦋,