You will notice when you hear japanese talking each other, the word for you "anata" is hardly heard. In english conversation, "you" is one of the most frequently used words. In japanese conversation, subject word and object word can be neglected when they can be easily guessed. "Did you heard that news?" is often expressed like as "News heard ?" and the reply is "heard", in reality "kiita yo". "kiita" is "heard". "yo" is a difficult explain word. It strengthens the former word and also expresses the familiarity to the speaker. There are several words like this. And their use have some diffence by gender. "kiita yo" of female is in most cases "kiita wa" or "kiita wayo".

* A remark is provided about the way of scripting japanese using a,b,c....

Expressions for You
word for you in chinese character	pronunciation	direct meaning	situation to be used	male	female
	anata (an-ta)	respectable person	This you is most proper expression in any situation for both male and female. The pronunciation "an-ta" is a colloquial variation mostly used among well known people. The antonym or pair word is .	standard	standard
	kimi	majesty	The original meaning is majesty meaning emperor. But later, the meaning was changed. Nowadays this word is used for equal partners and subordinates and is thought to be an expression of familiarity. The relation of "anata" and "kimi" resembles to the one between German Sie and Du. The antonym or pair word is .	yes	often
	anata (an-ta)	respectable woman	This is only used in writing.	yes	yes
	anata (an-ta)	respectable male	This is only rarely used in writing.	yes	yes
	kisama	respectable Sir	The meaning is almost reverse the direct meaning. It is a rough expression of you used only between well known friend. Females never use this word. The antonym or pair word is .Quarrels oftne begin with this word.Probably there is a hidden meaning though no one mention it. "What Respectable Sir are you thinking you are?"	yes	never
	kikun	respectable lord	This is only used in writing in case of equal partner.	yes	never
	kikoh	respectable lord	Originally samurai the warrior used it to his lord. But lately it is used among equal partners. And until some fifty years ago, students used this word.	used	never
	nanji	you	An ancient word used to equal partners and subordinates in a royal court by noble people.	yes	yes
	omae ome-e	(respectable) front	The meaning is You just in front of me. "o" sound at the top express politeness to superiors in older time but nowadays this meaning was lost and used to equal partners and subordinates. "omee" is a rude variation. The antonym or pair word is . A tight friendship is called as relation of "Ore" and "omae".	yes	sometimes
nocharacter	omahan	I	a local tongue in Kansai. This is a polite expression of "omae".	yes	yes
nocharacter	wai	I (you)	a local tongue in Kansai area as rather vulgar expression. Strangely enough, this word is also used for you. You must discern the two meaning according to the situation.	yes	rarely
	temae (teme-e)	front (you)	An old word used by merchant and craftsman. This word is also used for I (the guy in front of you) and you (the guy in front of me). "temee" is a rude variation.	yes	rarely

   There are many other variations in local tongues.

To German speakers, A German, Nora translated this page into German please take a look at it.