Koibito meaning can vary depending on context, explained in detail

How to say ‘girlfriend’, ‘boyfriend’ or just ‘lover’ in Japanese

Japanese people would use the word, “koibito”, meaning ‘girlfriend’, ‘boyfriend’ or ‘lover’ in Japanese. In this blog post, I will explain it in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I will explain why its meaning can vary depending on context. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meanings of koibito
• Kanji characters used in koibito
• Example #1: how to use koibito meaning ‘boyfriend’
• How to say ‘boyfriend’ in Japanese
  • Definition and meaning of kareshi
  • Kanji characters used in kareshi
• Example #2: how to use kareshi meaning ‘boyfriend’
• How to say ‘girlfriend’ in Japanese
• Example #3: how to use kanojo meaning ‘girlfriend’
• Summary

Definition and meanings of koibito

First of all, let me start with the definition and meanings of “koibito”.

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

From the definition and meanings above, we can understand that “koibito” can be used to mean one’s lover regardless of gender. To understand it a bit more, let me explain its kanji characters in detail.

Kanji characters used in koibito

Below are the ones.

• 恋 – a kanji character widely used in Japanese words related to a feeling of love or love itself. Normally, it is not used to mean a general feeling of love like love among family members.
• 人 – a kanji character widely used in Japanese words related to a person or people. It can also be found in words like “hito“, “hitogara“, “otona” and “nihonjin“.

From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “koibito” literally means a lover and also that it does not contain any word or nuance determining the gender of lover. This is why its meaning can vary depending on the situation and context. It can mean ‘girlfriend’, ‘boyfriend’ or just ‘one’s lover’.

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. Here, actually, we could get a better understanding of “koibito” through the detailed kanji check above.

Then, let me explain how Japanese people use “koibito” through the example below.

Example #1: how to use koibito meaning ‘boyfriend’

Below are new words used in the example sentence.

• 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’s 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’s put after the pronoun, “watashi”, to make its possessive case, “watashi no”, which means ‘my’ in Japanese. Learn more about “watashi no”.
• desu – です : an auxiliary verb put after a noun or adjective to make it polite. In the example, it’s put after the noun, “koibito”, to make it sound polite.

This is a typical usage of “koibito”. In this example, it’s used to mean ‘boyfriend’. Again, but it can be used to mean one’s lover in general, regardless of gender. So, its meaning highly depends on context and other words used together with it. Here, the pronoun, “kare”, gives us a hint.

When Japanese people need to mean a boyfriend explicitly, most probably they use a different word. I will explain it in the next paragraphs.

How to say ‘boyfriend’ in Japanese

As I explained already, “koibito” is used to mean a lover, regardless of gender. It is a very useful word, but sometimes its meaning could be a bit ambiguous. It depends too much on context.

So, sometimes, Japanese people use more specific words. Below is one of them, meaning ‘boyfriend’.

Definition and meaning of kareshi

Below are the definition and meaning of “kareshi”.

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

As you can see here, “kareshi” specifically means ‘boyfriend’ in Japanese. It’s a coined word, so checking its kanji characters doesn’t make much sense. Nevertheless, let me check them as follows.

Kanji characters used in kareshi

Below are the ones.

• 彼 – a kanji character used to express something distant from the speaker. It can also be used to mean a man who is distant from the speaker. Actually, it’s quite often used as the pronoun, “kare”, in order to mean ‘he’ in Japanese. In many cases, ‘he’ is a man distant from the speaker, I think.
• 氏 – a kanji character often used as an honorific suffix in Japanese.

From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “kareshi” is a word to call a man in an honorific way. This concept is not completely in line with its meaning, but quite understandable, I think. Perhaps, it started to be used by a woman to call her boyfriend in an honorific way.

The previous example sentence can be paraphrased as follows with the word, “kareshi”.

Example #2: how to use kareshi meaning ‘boyfriend’

Compared to the last example, the new one sounds a bit too casual. So, we need to be careful with its use.

In addition, we need to be careful with the fact that the word, “kare”, can work as an abbreviated form of “kareshi”. Japanese girls and women often use it to mean ‘boyfriend’ especially 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.

Let me check the new kanji character used in “kanojo”.

• 女 – a kanji character widely used in Japanese words related to women.

From the kanji characters used in “kanojo”, we can understand that it literally means ‘that girl’. This is the basic concept lying under its meaning.

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

Example #3: how to use kanojo meaning ‘girlfriend’

Below is a new word.

• kirei – 綺麗 (きれい) : one conjugation of the na-adjective, “kireina”, which means ‘beautiful’ in Japanese. Learn more about “kireina”.

This is a typical usage of “kanojo”. When it’s used together with a possessive case word, most probably it is a noun meaning ‘girlfriend’.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the word, “koibito”, in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I’ve explained its related expressions, “kareshi” and “kanojo”. Let me summarize them as follows.

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