kanojo 彼女, Meaning in Japanese: She, Her, Girlfriend

In Japanese, kanojo 彼女 means "she," "her," a female third person pronoun, or "girlfriend."

It's the female counterpart of kare 彼, "he," "him," "boyfriend."

• Third Person Pronoun
• "Girlfriend" in Japanese

Third Person Pronoun

The word kanojo 彼女 is a female third person pronoun.

• kanojo wa Hanako desu
  彼女は花子です
  She is Hanako.
• kanojo wo tasukeru
  彼女を助ける
  To help her.
• kanojo-tachi
  彼女たち
  She and the others. They.
  (plural.)
• kanojo-ra
  彼女ら
  (same meaning, less common.)
• kanojo no
  彼女の
  Her.
  Hers.
  (no-adjective.)
• kanojo-tachi no
  彼女たちの
  Their.
  Theirs.

Japanese is a pro-drop language, so it's not necessary to use kanojo in some places we'd use "she" in English, if it's implicit whom we're talking about. For example, in the answer for a question:

• Hanako wa nani wo shite-iru?
  花子は何をしている？
  What is Hanako doing?
• benkyou shite-iru
  勉強している
  [Hanako] is studying.
  [She] is studying.
  
  • kanojo wa benkyou shite-iru
    彼女は勉強している
    She is studying.
    (same meaning.)

"Girlfriend" in Japanese

The word kanojo 彼女 also means "girlfriend" in Japanese.

• ore no kanojo
  俺の彼女
  My her. (wrong.)
  My girlfriend. (right.)
• boku no kanojo
  僕の彼女
  (same meaning.)
• kanojo wa iru?
  彼女はいる？
  Is she here? (locative.)
  Do [you] have a girlfriend? (possessive.)
  (existence verb.)
  • kanojo wa koko ni iru
    彼女はここにいる
    She is here.
  • ore wa kanojo ga inai
    俺は彼女がいない
    I don't have a girlfriend.
    (double subject construction.)
  • ore wa {kanojo ga inai} to ikite-ikenai
    俺は彼女がいないと生きていけない
    If {she isn't [around]}, I can't go on living.
    I can't go on living if she isn't around.
    I can't live without her.
• atarashii kanojo ga dekita
  新しい彼女ができた
  [I] made a new girlfriend.
• mae no kanojo
  前の彼女
  The girlfriend of before. (literally.)
  [My] previous girlfriend.
• moto-kanojo
  元彼女
  Former girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend.

Manga: Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou 男子高校生の日常 (Chapter 2, 男子高校生と放課後)

• naa, kanojo tte dou yattara dekin-no?
  なあ　彼女ってどうやったらできんの？
  Hey, what do [you] have to do to make a girlfriend?
  • dekin-no - contraction of dekiru no できるの.