Still a first semester student but I do know some of the basics because I use to study Japanese in my off time a lot. The book just states watashi as “I”, and I really don’t want to come off as 🤓 to my prof, but like I said I studied Japanese a lot in the past and have grown custom to boku/ ore when referring to myself. Should I just follow as the book says? The assignment is translating sentences and a lot of them are stuff starting with “I am…” I know watashi is gender neutral in formal grammer, but from what I’ve seen it’s very rarely used by males when referring to themselves.
5 comments
A lot of things around this, including your teacher’s disposition, where you live and so on.
“Watashi” might be most suitable for any occasion, especially when speaking in class or something “official.”
“Boku” might be okay if you’re in a casual situation or have a good relationship.
I always used Boku in high school, but it might vary between teachers.
It’s fine to ask here but I’m sure your professor won’t mind if you email them and ask them questions. They tend to like interacting with students. People who teach often like teaching. And maybe then she can tell the class about your interesting question and everyone can learn.
I would say a lot of adult males in the professional world use watashi to keep things official and to separate from when they are talking in private. So it’s definitely not rare for a man to use watashi. Boku is also polite for a male to acceptably use in the classroom. Don’t even think of using ore. It will be rude in every situation unless you encounter some Japanese guys who are about your same age using it and you get pretty close to.
I’d use wagahai and tell my prof I identify as a cat