Koibito meaning ‘boyfriend’, ‘girlfriend’ or ‘lover’ in Japanese

Japanese people often use the word, “koibito”, meaning ‘boyfriend’, ‘girlfriend’ or ‘lover’ in Japanese. In this blog post, I will explain it based on its kanji expression. And also, I will explain other related expressions which Japanese people often use. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meanings of koibito
  • Example of koibito meaning ‘boyfriend’
• How to say ‘boyfriend’ in Japanese
  • Example of kareshi meaning ‘boyfriend’
• How to say ‘girlfriend’ in Japanese
  Example of kanojo meaning ‘girlfriend’
• Summary

Definition and meanings of koibito

Let me start with a definition and meanings of “koibito”.

• koibito – 恋人 (こいびと) : a noun meaning ‘boyfriend’, ‘girlfriend’ or ‘lover’ in Japanese.

This word is quite simple. Japanese people often use it to mean one’s lover. To understand its meanings, let me check its kanji components individually. When we meet new kanji expressions, checking their components would help us a lot to understand them deeply. Below are the ones.

• 恋 – a kanji character widely used to mean a feeling of love or love itself to a particular one. It is not used to mean a general feeling of love like love among family members.
• 人 – a kanji character widely used to mean ‘person’, ‘persons’ or ‘people’.

From these kanji characters, we can understand that the word, “koibito”, can mean ‘boyfriend’, ‘girlfriend’ or ‘lover’. These meanings are completely in line with the concepts of the above mentioned kanji components.

Below is an example showing how Japanese native speakers use it.

Example of koibito meaning ‘boyfriend’

Below are new words used in the example.

• kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case maker or topic maker. In the example, it is put after the pronoun, “kare”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• no – の : a case particle put after a noun to make its possessive case. In the example, it is put after the pronoun, “watashi”. The formed phrase, “watashi no”, is a possessive case of “watashi” and corresponds well to the English possessive case word, “my”.
• desu – です : an auxiliary verb put after a noun or adjective to make its polite expression. In the example, it is put after the noun, “koibito”, to make it sound polite.

This is a typical use of “koibito”, meaning ‘boyfriend’. Japanese people often use it to mean ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend. In a way, it can be considered as a general word for ‘lover’. However, this doesn’t mean that there is no specific word for ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’ in Japanese. In following paragraphs, I will explain two specific words in detail.

How to say ‘boyfriend’ in Japanese

As I explained already, “koibito” is a general word for ‘lover’. So, we can use it to mean one’s lover regardless of gender. In reality, however, Japanese people also use specific words to mean ‘boyfriend’, ‘girlfriend’ or such. Below is one of them.

• kareshi – 彼氏 (かれし) : a noun meaning ‘boyfriend’ in Japanese.

Unlike “koibito”, “kareshi” means ‘boyfriend’ specifically. It is a coined word, so checking its kanji components doesn’t make much sense. Nevertheless, let me check them as follows.

• 彼 – a kanji character used to mean something distant from the speaker. It can also be used to mean a guy.
• 氏 – a kanji character often used as an honorific suffix in Japanese.

Based on concepts of these kanji characters, “彼氏” can be understood as a polite expression to mean one’s boy/man. Apparently, this idea would fit with its meaning, ‘boyfriend’.

“Kareshi” can replace the word, “koibito”, in the previous example as follows.

Example of kareshi meaning ‘boyfriend’

Compared to the last example, the new one could sound a bit casual. So, we need to be careful with its use. And also, we need to be careful with the fact that the word, “kare”, can work as an abbreviated form of “kareshi” depending on context. It would be surprising, but unfortunately, it’s true. Especially, Japanese girls and women use “kare” to mean ‘boyfriend’ in casual conversation. When we talk with them, we need to be careful with context more than usual.

How to say ‘girlfriend’ in Japanese

Then, let me explain how to say “girlfriend” in Japanese. Below is it.

• kanojo – 彼女 (かのじょ) : a noun meaning ‘girlfriend’ in Japanese.

And also, let me check the new kanji character.

• 女 – a kanji character often used to mean women or something related to women.

Based on its kanji components, “kanojo” can be understood as ‘that girl’. This concept is highly related to its meaning, ‘girlfriend’.

Here, we need to be careful with another fact that “kanojo” can also be used as a pronoun meaning ‘she’ in Japanese. To tell the truth, this is its original usage and meaning. Its meaning, ‘she’, is completely in line with the concept behind its kanji expression. The other meaning, ‘girlfriend’, was born from the original one as a kind of slang.

Example of kanojo meaning ‘girlfriend’

Below is a new word.

• kirei – 綺麗 (きれい) : a stem part of the na-adjective, “kireina“, meaning ‘beautiful’.

This is a typical use of “kanojo”. If a possessive case word is put before it, most probably it means ‘girlfriend’. Normally, possessive case words are used to mean specific things. So, “kanojo” after “watashi no” should mean a specific lover.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained “koibito”, “kareshi” and “kanojo”. Let me summarize them as follows.

• koibito – 恋人 (こいびと) : a noun meaning ‘boyfriend’, ‘girlfriend’ or ‘lover’ in Japanese.
• kareshi – 彼氏 (かれし) : a noun meaning ‘boyfriend’ in Japanese.
• kanojo – 彼女 (かのじょ) : a noun meaning ‘girlfriend’ in Japanese.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.