kare 彼, Meaning in Japanese: He, Him, Boyfriend

In Japanese, kare 彼 means either "he," "him," a male third person pronoun, or "boyfriend," kareshi 彼氏.

It's the male counterpart of kanojo 彼女, "she," "her," "girlfriend."

• Third Person Pronoun
• "Boyfriend" in Japanese
  • Kanji
• References

Third Person Pronoun

The word kare 彼 is a masculine third person pronoun. Its plural form would be:

• kare wa Tarou desu
  彼は太郎です
  He is Tarou.
• kare wo tasukeru
  彼を助ける
  To help him.
• kare-ra
  彼ら
  He and the others. They.
  (plural.)
• kare-tachi
  彼達
  (same meaning, less common.)
• kare no
  彼の
  His.
  (no-adjective.)
• kare-ra no
  彼らの
  Their.
  Theirs.

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

• Tarou wa nani wo shite-iru?
  太郎は何をしている？
  What is Tarou doing?
• benkyou shite-iru
  勉強している
  [Tarou] is studying.
  [He] is studying.
  
  • kare wa benkyou shite-iru
    彼は勉強している
    He is studying.
    (same meaning.)

Manga: Houshin Engi 封神演義 (Chapter 1, 封神の書)

• Context: Shinkouhyou 申公豹 blasts Taikoubou 太公望 with a powerful attack, who retaliates, giving Shinkouyou a little cut in the cheek. Shinkouyou asks his cat to check if Taikoubou survived, and then, after confirming he survived the attack:
• yokatta~
  よかったー
  [That's a relief].
• ha?
  は？
  Hah? (the cat doesn't get why he's relieved the guy he was going to kill is still alive.)
• watashi wa
  umarete go-sen-nen
  hajimete
  jibun no chi wo
  mimashita
  私は生まれて五千年初めて自分の血を見ました
  In the five thousand years [I] have been born [it] is the first time I've seen [my] own blood.
• Taikoubou...
  太公望･･･
  (character name.)
• watashi wa kare wo
  raibaru ni
  kettei shimasu
  私は彼をライバルに決定します
  I've decided that he is [my] rival.
  (performative verb.)

"Boyfriend" in Japanese

The word kare 彼 also means "boyfriend" in Japanese. The word kareshi 彼氏 is sometimes preferred, in order to avoid confusion.

• watashi no kare
  私の彼
  My him. (wrong.)
  My boyfriend. (right.)
• kare wa iru?
  彼はいる？
  Is he here? (locative.)
  Do [you] have a boyfriend? (possessive.)
  (existence verb.)
  
  • kare wa koko ni iru
    彼はここにいる
    "He exists here."
    He is here.
  • watashi wa kare ga inai
    私は彼がいない
    I don't have a boyfriend.
    (double subject construction.)
  • watashi wa {kare ga inai} to ikite-ikenai
    私は彼がいないと生きていけない
    If {he isn't [around]}, I can't go on living.
    I can't go on living if he isn't around.
    I can't live without him.
• atarashii kare ga dekita
  新しい彼ができた
  [I] made a new boyfriend.

• mae no kare
  前の彼
  The boyfriend of before. (literally.)
  [My] previous boyfriend.

Sometimes, the word is spelled with katakana.

• moto-kare
  元カレ
  Former boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend.

Manga: Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou 男子高校生の日常 (Volume 1, 女子高生は異常)

• nee, kareshi tte dou shitara dekin-no ka naaa
  ねー　彼氏ってどうしたらできんのかなぁー
  Hey, what does [one] have to do to make a boyfriend?
  • dekin-no - contraction of dekiru no できるの.

Kanji

The kanji of kare 彼 sometimes appears in other words. Its meaning is the same as the a~ あ～ morpheme in kosoado words.

• kono chi
  この地
  This land.
• ano chi
  あの地
  That land.
• kanochi
  彼の地
  (same meaning as above.)

Originally, kare かれ meant the same thing as ano hito あの人, "that person." In old Japanese, kare かれ is synonymous with are あれ, "that," in the sense of that thing, rather than that person.^{(kobun.weblio.jp)}

Some other words:

• kanojo
  彼女
  She.
  • onna
    女
    Woman.
• kanata
  彼方
  That direction. Over there.
  
  • hou
    方
    Direction.

References

• かれ 【彼】 - kobun.weblio.jp, accessed 2021-04-24.