|
Addressing of Family Members Today, let us learn how to address your family members in Japanese. You will see 2 different categories(Formal Way and Other Ways) of addressing your family members in Japanese. Formal Way is the actual way of addressing your family members while Other Ways is other ways of addressing your family members in Japanese to show affections.
| | Formal Way | Other Ways | Sound Clip |  Grandfather | おじいさん / お祖父さん / お爺さん Ojiisan | じじ Jiji
|
|  Grandmother
| おばあさん / お祖母さん / お婆さん Obaasan | ばば Baba
|
|  Father | おとうさん / お父さん Otousan | 父親 / ちちおや Chichioya, ちち Chichi, パパ Papa |
|  Mother | おかあさん / お母さん Okaasan | 母親 / ははおや Hahapya, はは Haha, ママ Mama
|
|  Elder Brother
| おにいさん / お兄さん Oniisan | おにいちゃん Oniichan, あに / 兄 Ani
|
|  Elder Sister
| おねえさん / お姉さん Oneesan | おねえちゃん Oneechan, あね / 姉 Ane
|
|  Younger Brother
| おとうと / 弟 Otouto | |
|  Younger Sister
| いもうと / 妹 Imouto | |
|  Uncle | おじさん / 小父さん / 叔父さん / 伯父さんOjisan | おじ Oji |
|  Auntie
| おばさん / 小母さん / 叔母さん / 伯母さんObasan | おば Oba
|
|
*Japanese words relating to family (listen to the sound clip for pronounciation): Family - 家族 / かぞく Kazoku Brothers - 兄弟 / きょうだい Kyoudai Sisters - 姉妹 / しまい Shimai
Baby - 赤ちゃん / あかちゃん Akachan
Addressing of People
How do you address people in Japanese? In English, we address people as Mr. George, Mrs. Alice, Miss March and Ms. Strawberry; "Mr.", "Mrs", "Miss" and "Ms." are placed in front of the names. However in Japanese, we address people as Oji-sama(Grandfather), Natsu-san(Mr./Mrs/Miss/Ms), Ken-kun and Kou-chan; "sama", "san", "kun" and "chan" are placed behind the names. Below explain when to use each of the addressing words. | | When to use
| Example | -さま -sama | When addressing to someone of high respect or holding a high position | Ojyou-sama | -さん -san | When addressing to strangers or people you know to show respect. It's the same as Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms. | Natsu-san
| -くん -kun | When addressing to male close friends or boys as a sign of affection; cutting the name shorter
| Ken-kun (Kenichi) | | -ちゃん -chan | When addressing to close friends as a sign of affection; cutting the name shorter | Kou-chan (kouichi) | - せんせい -sensei | When addressing male/female teachers and doctors
| Tanaka-sensei |
Referring to People and Yourself
This is how you refer to people and yourself in Japanese. | English words | Japanese words
| Sound Clip
| I, me
| わたし/私 Watashi (Formal way) おれわ/折れわ Orewa (Informal way) |
| | You | あなた/貴方 Anata (Formal way) きみ/君 Kimi (Informal way) |
| He, him
| かれ/彼 Kare
|
| She, her
| かのじょ/彼女 Kanojo
|
| We, us
| わたしたち/私たち Watashi tachi
|
| You(plural)
| あなたたち Anata tachi |
| They
| あのひとたち Ano hito tachi
|
|
Don't Give Up On Learning Japanese!
Related news items
|
