I've always had trouble choosing which first person pronoun to use - 私 (watashi), 僕 (boku), or 俺 (おれ). What kind of factors should I keep in mind when choosing between these? Is it common to vary one's choice by the social context, or do people tend to select one and stick with it all the time?
Answer
It depends a lot on the situation. I try to keep it simple and only use three most practical forms of the pronoun:
僕 (boku) :: I use it whenever I am not at work
俺 (ore) :: Almost never use 俺 unless most people around me are already using 俺, too informal.
私 (watashi) :: What I always use at work. Never ever use boku at work, or in an email, since somebody could consider that you are being rude and not too formal. (Happened to me a couple of times when I was a new graduate at a Japanese company).
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