WORD DETAIL
奴
やつ
Examples
Included kanji
Study notes
1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning
- Structure:
奴is read asやつand is a noun for a guy referred to roughly or for a thing identified colloquially. - Basic usage: Referring to a rude guy appears in
失礼な奴, while identifying the red thing on a shelf appears in棚の赤い奴.
2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions
- Person and object uses
- With a person it can sound dismissive or rough; with an object it colloquially substitutes a feature for the item's name.
- Difference from
人·物- Compared with neutral words for a person or thing, this term has a more familiar or rough colloquial tone, so context and audience matter.

