What does “koibito” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “koibito” to mean ‘lover’ in Japanese. They also use it to mean ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’ specifically. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this word as it is sometimes used in Japanese movies, songs, novels, manga, anime, and the like. In this blog post, however, I will explain this word in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “koibito” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meanings of “koibito”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “koibito”.
- koibito – 恋人 (こいびと) : a noun meaning ‘lover’ in Japanese. This can also mean ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’ depending on the situation and context.
Native speakers use this noun to refer to a person whom they love very much. So, its usage is very similar to that of the English noun, “lover”, I think.
The definition and meanings are simple and clear. To understand this noun more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.
Koibito in kanji
The kanji expression of “koibito” consists of the following two characters:
- 恋 : a kanji character widely used to mean a feeling of love or love itself.
- 人 : a kanji character widely used to mean a person or people. This kanji can also be found in other words like “hito“, “otona“, and “nihonjin“.
From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “koibito” literally means a ‘person to love’. In addition, we can see that it does not contain any word or nuance determining the gender of a lover. It can, therefore, refer to a lover regardless of the gender. We can use it to mean ‘lover’ in general or ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’ in specific depending on the situation and context.
When we meet new kanji expressions, we should check their kanji characters in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, kanji characters tell us a lot about meanings of words they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “koibito” through the detailed kanji check above.
Then, let me explain how to use “koibito” through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “lover” in Japanese
kanojo wa boku no koibito desu – 彼女は僕の恋人です (かのじょはぼくのこいびとです)
She is my lover.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- kanojo – 彼女 (かのじょ) : a pronoun meaning ‘she’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “kanojo” to make the subject word in the sentence.
- boku – 僕 (ぼく) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese. This is used mainly by boys and young males.
- no – の : a case particle used after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive case. In the example, this is used after “boku” to make its possessive case, “boku no”, which means ‘my’ in Japanese.
- desu – です : an auxiliary verb used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, this is used after “boku no koibito” to make it sound polite.
This is a typical usage of “koibito”. In this example, it works as a part of the noun phrase, “boku no koibito”, which means ‘my lover’ in Japanese. It has been translated as “lover”, but could also be interpreted as ‘girlfriend’ from the context. When we want to say “lover” in Japanese, anyway, this noun is a very good option.
Example #2: another usage of “koibito”
watashi no koibito wa kakkoii desu – 私の恋人はかっこいいです (わたしのこいびとはかっこいいです)
My lover is handsome.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese. In the example, this works together with “no” to say “my” in Japanese.
- kakkoii – かっこいい : an i-adjective meaning ‘handsome’ or such in Japanese.
This is another typical usage of “koibito”. In this example, it works as a part of the noun phrase, “watashi no koibito”, which means ‘my lover’ in Japanese. From the sentence, we can interpret its specific meaning as ‘boyfriend’.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “koibito” in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- koibito – 恋人 (こいびと) : a noun meaning ‘lover’ in Japanese. This can also mean ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’. These two kanji characters literally mean a ‘person to love’. This noun does not contain any word determining the gender of a lover, so we can use it to mean ‘lover’ in general or ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’ in specific depending on the situation and context.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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