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Anata is the most formal generic way to say "you." You might use it when you very first meet someone. But in general, Japanese use a person's name when we would say you. For example, they might ask me, "Brian-san wa doko kara kimashita ka?" And this would mean, "Where did Brian come from?" = "Where did you come from?" When you get more informal, you don't use anata at all. You would use the person's first name instead of their last, maybe, or drop the -san or something. You rarely would use anata in an informal relationship. To be honest, you see the word much more often than you say it. You mostly see it in print, like in ads: "Which car do you prefer?" Obviously, there's no way around using anata since they don't know your name. Just as a side point, women tend to call their husbands/boyfriends anata as if it were their name. It resembles us calling our significant others "dear" or "honey." Also, sometimes, a kind-hearted older person might call you anata as a way of being friendly, speaking up to you, since in reality, they could call you any one of the lower you's. And there are plenty of them. The next one down from anata is kimi. You use it for peers. But it feels a little distant to call your friends. You normally use personal names for your friends. Actually, I don't think kimi is used all that often in Japan. I personally didn't use it much. In theory, though, you would use it with someone of equal social rank. Next we come to omae. This is low, this is base. This is what you expect to see criminals using on TV. However, it is also used a great deal between close friends. Since it's pretty rude, you only allow your most intimate friends to call you it, so it reflects some closeness. I've seen guys talk to their girlfriends that way. Personally, however, I don't care for it much. I prefer not to speak down to people if possible. Now, in the gutter, we find kisama. It's pretty bad. I don't think I would use it at all in Japan. But you'll hear it on TV, so it's good to know. There are a few other variants of these in use, and they are generally considered low-level Japanese. It would be good to stick with the top two on this list, in this writer's opinion. |