LLearn Japanese

Words to Call Friends

Just curious… Is there a difference in context and usage between 友人 (yuujin), 友達 (tomodachi), and other Japanese words for “friend(s)?” My best guess is that they denote different levels of formality and closeness/intimacy (ex: 友人 being a more formal way to describe and refer to friends than 友達), but let me know what you think!

2 comments

  2. I’m going to say this preemptively

    仲間 is *not* usually stronger than 友達. It’s like ‘fellow’; your colleagues at work are 仲間, but not necessarily 友達. The whole thing got out of hand because of the dramatic way it’s used in One Piece, but it made sense there since it was effectively ‘crewmate’.

    Now that that’s out of the way, let’s start with 友達, 友人, and 友. 友達 is the ordinary word for ‘friend’, people you generally like and hang out with. 友人 is a formal word for the same concept; it isn’t so much based on what they are to you as what situation you’re saying it in. 友 is now somewhat archaic; while technically, it refers to the same thing as 友達, because of it being an older word it usually appears in dramatic works and thus indicates a closer friendship.

    親友 is often translated as ‘best friend’ but you don’t necessarily have only one. They’re simply a very close friend to you. ‘Bosom friend’ might be a close translation, but the word 親友 is far more common than that is.

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私の好きな音楽について短いテクストを書いてみた。(Please correct any mistakes)

こんにちは、こんばんは、みんな元気ですか? 今日、私は好きな音楽について話してと思います。音楽は素晴らしいことですね。音楽に聴くと、嬉しい感じにするばかりでなく、元気な感じも、悲しい感じも、沢山感じにすることが可能です。 ​ 私は音楽にとっても、とってもよく聴きます。例えば、MozartとかSchumannとかなクラシカル音楽が大好きです。さらに、ヘヴィメタル を聴くことも好きです。例えば、MetallicaとかRammsteinです。 その上、J-Popと言う日本から音楽を聴くこともとっても楽しみます。いまのところには「私立恵比寿中学」と言うアイドルグループを聴くことが大好きです。ほかの楽しむJ-popグループは、例えば「日向坂46」とか「緑黄色社会」とかです。 ​ その短いテクストを読んでありがとうございました。