Can 彼 be used as an indefinite pronoun like やつ or 男?


> 気取らない彼が好きです。 I like him, who doesn't put on airs.

My first reading of this sentence was to assume that 彼 was referring to the
boyfriend meaning of 彼, and thus my interpretation was "I like an
unpretentious kind of boyfriend". My second interpretation was wrong as well=
"I like a guy who doesn't put on airs." The correct interpretation is the
definite pronoun, him.

However, can 彼 be used to mean guy or man in the same way that words like やつ
and 男 are used as indefinite pronouns?

Don't be that kind of guy. : あんなやつみたいになってはいけないよ。

Don't be that kind of guy. : あんな彼みたいになってはいけないよ。(I now think this
interpretation is incorrect)

I like a kind-hearted kind of guy: 心優しい彼が好き。I suppose the right interpretation
of this sentence would be, "I like him, who is kind hearted" (I like him
because he is kind hearted)

Would this be correct?




`彼` can mean either 'boyfriend' or 'male person,' but the problem with your
original interpretation or the one you were told is that they are interpreting
`彼` as an indefinite person, translating it with `a(n)`. A better counterpart
is `him`. And note that the relative clause in this case is a non-restrictive
one, not a restrictive one. Depending on the context, it can either mean:

> 'I like him, who does not put on airs.'  
>  'I like my boyfriend, who does not put on airs.'

When `彼` in a sentence can in principle be interpreted either as definite or
indefinite, the preferrence for the definite interpretation is so strong that
the indefinite interpretation is blocked and is impossible. Only when the
definite interpretation is logically impossible, the indefinite interpretation
comes to the foreground. One such example is given by Hyperworm in the comment
below:

> 彼が欲しい  
>  'I want a boyfriend.'

In this case, the verb `欲しい` 'want' presupposes that the person does not have
a boyfriend, which makes the definite interpretation of `彼` as 'boyfriend'
impossible. In such case, an indefinite interpretation becomes possible. Note
that, when you take the `彼` here as 'male person', then it loses the
indefinite interpretation because the definite interpretation becomes
possible:

> 彼が欲しい  
>  'I want him.'  
>  ×'I want some man.'

Your use of the word `guy` is also problematic. `[奴]{やつ}` can be translated as
such, but `彼` or `男` does not have such coarse/rude nuance. And unlike `彼`,
the words `奴` and `男` can be used to refer to an indefinite male person.

