Japanese word

僕

Pronunciation

Romajiboku

Meaning

  • pronounI

Example

僕は学生です。boku wa gaku sei de su

I am a student.

Illustration for 僕 (I)

More examples

僕は週末に友達と映画を見ます。boku wa shū matsu ni tomo dachi to ei ga o mi ma su

I watch movies with my friends on weekends.

Core concept

Marks the speaker as male while giving the first-person reference a softer and less formal tone than some other common choices.

Common phrases

  • 僕だけboku da ke

    only me

  • 僕の番boku no ban

    my turn

Similar words

私watashi: A first-person pronoun suitable for neutral speech and polite situations.
俺ore: A first-person pronoun associated mainly with male speakers and casual speech.

Definition in Japanese

主に男性が、改まらない場面で自分を指して使う一人称の代名詞。omo ni dan sei ga arata ma ra na i ba men de ji bun o sa shi te tsuka u ichi nin shō no dai mei shi

Word origin

僕 (boku, "servant") comes from the Chinese character 僕, which originally referred to a servant and was later used as a humble reference to oneself before becoming a Japanese male pronoun.

Usage tips

  • Compared with 俺 (ore), 僕 (boku) generally sounds softer and more restrained, so it often suits polite conversation and mild-speaking male characters.

Other meanings

  • mepronoun

Word lists with this word