Family
Parents – Go Ryoushin (ごりょうしん)
Father – Otousan / Chichi (おとうさん・ちち)
Mother – Okaasan / Haha (おかあさん・はは)
Brothers – Kyoudai (きょうだい)
Sisters – Shimai (しまい)
Elder Brother – Oniisan / Ani (おにいさん・あに)
Younger Brother – Otoutosan / Otouto (おとうとさん・おとうと)
Elder Sister – Oneesan / Ane (おねえさん・あね)
Younger Sister – Imoutosan / Imouto (いもうとさん・おもうと)
Children – Kodomo (こども)
Husband – Dannasan / Shujin (だんなさん・しゅじん)
Wife – Okusan / Tsuma (おくさん・つま)
Son – Musuko (むすこ)
Daughter – Musume (むすめ)
You may have notice that 2 different words are representing the same meaning. They are used in different way. Here’s how :
Q : What is your father’s name? – Anata no Otousan no o namae wa?
「あなた の おとうさん の お なまえ は?」
A : My father’s name is John – Watashi no Chichi no namae wa Jon desu
「わたし の ちち の なまえ は ジョン です」
Q : How old is your mother? – Anata no Okaasan wa o ikutsu desu ka?
「あなた の おかあさん は お いくつ です か?」
A : My mother is 48 years old – Watashi no Haha wa 48 sai desu
「わたし の はは は 48 さい です」
Meaning : Namae (Name), Ikutsu (how old – age), Sai (years old – age)
When you are talking about other people’s father, you have to use “Otousan”. For own father, use “Chichi”. Same goes to Mother, Elder / Younger Brother / Sister.
You may also notice the “O” (o namae & o ikutsu). By adding “O” is to show your respect to the person you are talking to (like your boss, customer, etc)
December 8th, 2005 at 6:26 am
hmm… How does the name suffixes work? What are all the options? Adding ‘-san’ to the end of name means respect and ‘-kun’ means close relationship… ? How does it change according to the gender? Thanks for explanation
December 8th, 2005 at 9:05 am
Yeah, you are right, to show respect, you should use “-san” (ie. Analitiku-san) where “-kun(male) & -chan(female)” is normally use within friends and those elder or pioneer than you. When using “-kun or -chan”, it is not necessary to use surname but second name is use too. Example : Watanabe-kun (male – surname), Tomoko-chan (female – second name)
Hope this help.
December 12th, 2006 at 2:01 am
Just a quick one–what’s the difference between an surname and a second name??? I’ve just never really understood that part….
December 12th, 2006 at 4:56 pm
Chinese, Japanese, Korean and many other races do have a surname. For example : Kobayashi Kenichi – Surname (Kobayashi) Name (Kenichi). Kobayashi Kenichi’s children will be all start will Kobayashi and his son’s children will also be Kobayashi blah blah. This will be used at each generation.
December 13th, 2006 at 12:48 am
So… it’s kinda like putting an English last name before the first name. What you said makes perfect sense, I’m just trying to find an Eglish equivalent.
Thanks so much for your reply!
December 13th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
It’s my pleasure AJ
April 5th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Q : What is your father’s name? – Anata no Otousan no o namae wa? << i’ve questions about this..is the sentence “Anata no Otousan no o namae wa?” same with “Anata no Otousan no o namae wa nan desu ka”?
1) is the first sentence a short-cut of the second sentence?
2) does the second one mean something else?
3) is the second one grammatically incorrect? haha i’m so sorry for asking so many questions..it’s just i really want to learn how to speak nihongo so bad..arigatoo gozaimasu!! ^_^
April 5th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Hi Rejina,
A : Yes, it is the same
1. Yes, it is shortcut (polite) without the need of “nan desu ka”
2. It is the same
3. The second one (with “nan desu ka”) is correct.
You can ask as many questions as you want and I will be glad to answer all of them 😉
Thanks
April 6th, 2008 at 8:39 am
thanks so much! =D hey u think i can really learn how to speak nihongo fluently without needing to actually immerse myself in japan? ahihi..
April 6th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Hi Rejina,
In order to master the language, you need to practice more by communicating with Japanese. I have a friend who learn Nihongo for more than 8 years and he still doesn’t understand what the japanese is talking about. On the other hand I have a friend who has never study nihongo in school but only through self-study (net, dictionary, etc) and he speaks quite well.
May 11th, 2008 at 2:29 am
Hi there,what do ya mean o by this sentence “Anata no Otousan no o namae wa?”
May 11th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Hi Dodo,
The sentence either with or without “o”, the meaning is the same. With an “o”, the sentence will be more polite.
May 11th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Hi,Thanks for your reply..So if talking to friends and without o is “Anata no Otousan no namae wa?” Pls amend me if i am wrong
May 11th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Hi Dodo,
Yes, you are right
May 11th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Thank you V much…^^
December 23rd, 2010 at 7:44 am
Hi! Is it alright to use Otousan and Okaasan for your own parents, like when addressing them?
December 23rd, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Hi Gabi, yes sure. This is what the Japanese is using.
September 14th, 2011 at 4:11 am
I know it’s been a long time, but could someone clarify the use of ‘chichi’ or ‘chichioya’ when referring to someone else’s father?
If you’re talking to someone not related to you about their father, is it common for that person to start off by saying ‘chichioya (rest of sentence)’?
I’ve seen cases where someone would say “Kimi no otousan,” then in the next sentence start out with ‘chichioya…”
What would that say about their relationship, the person speaking with the person being spoken to and/or the spoken to’s father?
I’m still studying Japanese and have a long way to go, but I heard this and it made me curious.
Thanks!
September 14th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Hi Spook,
Chichi, chichioya, otōsan, are all the same.
Most of the time “kimi no otōsan” is used. Chichioya or chichi is used when you are calling your father but most of the time, they use otōsan
Hope this help
September 15th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Thanks Tony!
What about when someone from outside the family refers to someone else’s father as ‘chichioya’?
It’s stupid, but it’s something I heard in an anime – I think the person speaking thought of the other person’s father as a father figure (and he did seem to be, father figure and mentor). I think I’m trying to get to the attitude of the speaker when referring to the other man’s father as ‘chichioya’ if that makes sense.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
what the difference between watashi wa, watashi no, and anata wa, anata no?
well im still a beginner, hope you can help me
October 14th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
Watashi wa – I am
Watashi no – My “something” / Mine
Same for Anata no / Anata wa
August 13th, 2014 at 9:06 pm
Can we use ‘kun’ to call someone who’s not close?
August 14th, 2014 at 4:19 pm
>> Rosemary
Yes, you can but depends. If he is senior than you, it is not that polite to use “kun”. You can use for friend’s friends or someone junior than you.
October 22nd, 2014 at 4:07 pm
Can we use ‘san’ after the 1st name?
October 22nd, 2014 at 4:20 pm
If the 1st name is surname, then Yes. It’s still fine even it is not a surname but seldom use. This is commonly use when you meet several people with same surname
October 23rd, 2014 at 12:09 am
Does nii-sama and onii-san mean the same?And onee-san and nee-sama is same?
October 23rd, 2014 at 9:22 am
Yup, they mean the same.
October 23rd, 2014 at 4:30 pm
What does ‘byaku’ means?
October 23rd, 2014 at 6:01 pm
It should be Hyaku means hundred. The “H” will change depending on how many hundreds. Example:
100 – Hyaku
200 – Ni Hyaku
300 – San Byaku
etc
October 23rd, 2014 at 8:41 pm
Well,but I didn’t mean that.I mean ‘Byakuya’ meaning which I got from an anime.
October 24th, 2014 at 1:47 pm
It mean “White night”
October 24th, 2014 at 8:22 pm
What is the romanji for’winter night’,uncle,aunt,grandmother and grandfather?I’m sorry for asking ro many question.
October 25th, 2014 at 8:03 am
It’s “Fuyu no yoru”, Ojisan, Obasan, Ojiisan, Obaasan
August 13th, 2015 at 10:07 am
how to write the reatioship of your famil member
August 18th, 2015 at 2:57 pm
I read a lot of manga and from what I understood はは and ちち are used by small children and as they age they switch to おかさん and おとうさん (or any variton there of). Is this just being translated wrong? Because even licensed publications in english the speaker refers to their own parents as おかさん and おとうさん? Is the difference speaking of them or to them? Thanks so much for your help!
August 18th, 2015 at 3:50 pm
Hi Carmina,
はは and ちち are not necessarily address by children. Adult can refer their own parents as はは and ちち. Normally, you would use for referring to your own parents.
The most commonly used is おとうさん and おかあさん. This is normally use to refer to someone’s parents.
However, you can’t call your parents as はは and ちち but as おとうさん and おかあさん or ママ、パパ which is popular nowadays. Casual way of expression can be かあちゃん(mother) and とうちゃん(father)
October 26th, 2015 at 6:48 pm
hello, how do you write ‘what does your mother look like?’ and what does いいですよ (if its a word) mean? i have a test tomorrow and this is quite urgent. thanks!
February 2nd, 2017 at 12:37 am
can i use ojiisan,obasa,otousan,okaasa for my own members
February 2nd, 2017 at 12:39 am
can i use ojiisan,obasa,otousan,okaasa for my own members
And also where should we use yo in makinggv sentence
January 21st, 2019 at 9:10 am
can chichi be use the same with otousan? like im calling my father as chichi instead of otousan.. directly calling him chichi.