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Pronouns & Sentence Structure

Personal references, SOV word order, です/だ and question particle か
人称の使い分け
choosing person references
watashi/boku/ore/atashi
Self-reference varies by gender and formality
名前 + さん / 様 / ちゃん / 君
name + san/sama/chan/kun
-san/-sama/-chan/-kun
Honorific suffixes after names
こ・そ・あ for people
demonstratives for people
kono hito, sono kata
この人 (this person); polite: この方
自分 — oneself
jibun — oneself
jibun
Reflexive/self reference
だ・である (plain copula)
da / de aru (plain copula)
da / de aru
だ = casual; である = formal written
んです / のです — explanatory
n desu / no desu — explanatory
n desu
Adds nuance of explanation/reason
ね / よ — sentence particles
ne / yo — sentence-final particles
ne / yo
ね = seeking agreement; よ = informing/emphasis
よね — confirmation
yo ne — confirmation
yo ne
Combines emphasis and agreement-seeking
疑問詞 + か / も
question word + ka/mo
dareka, daremo
だれか = someone; だれも = no one (with neg.)
文の主題化
topicalisation
topic marking
Moving elements to topic position with は