さん、さま、くん、ちゃん
Family name -> Given name
In English the order of name is first name => family name, but it is family name => first name in Japan. For example for Japanese name “やまもといちろう Yamamoto Ichirou”, やまもと is family name and いちろう is first name.
Family name + First name |
山本 一郎 |
やまもと いちろう |
Yamamoto Ichirou |
Example:
私の名前は山本一郎です。(わたしのなまえはやまもといちろうです。)
My name is Ichirou Yamamoto.
Mr/Ms in Japanese
Anyone who worked with Japanese people in business have read the email with the name like “Yamamoto san” or “Yamamoto sama”. -san or -sama means “dear” in English in business. “-san” or “-sama” can be used for men and women since Japanese does not change it like Mr. , Mrs. , Ms. …etc. San, Sama, Dono can be used for all people but the level of respect is different.
san, sama or kun? (prefix)
[name] + san/sama/kun...
Kana | romaji | respect | to – |
---|---|---|---|
さん | san | ★★ | all |
さま | sama | ★★★ | all |
どの | dono | ★★★ | all |
くん | kun | ★ | men |
ちゃん | chan | ★ | women |
たん | tan | ? | ? |
やまもとくん、おはようございます。
Yamamoto kun, ohayougozaimasu.
Good morning, Mr. Yamamoto.
If I am 20 years old, I say “Good morning” to Yamamoto like this in Japanese.
He is…
age | he is | Conversation |
---|---|---|
18 | Friend Male |
山本君、おはよう。 Yamamoto kun, Ohayou. |
33 | Colleague Male |
山本さん、おはようございます。 Yamamoto san, Ohayougozaimasu. |
19 | Friend Female |
山本さん、おはよう。 Yamamoto san, Ohayou. |
40 | Shogun | 山本殿、おはようございます。 Yamamoto dono, Ohayougozaimasu. |
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