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In Japanese, talking about family members is more complicated than in English.
	This is mainly due to the fact that there are different words for mother, father, sister, etc.,
	depending on whether you're referring to your own family member or someone else's.



	So, for example, if I was referring to my own mother in conversation I would use <ruby>母haha</ruby>,
	but if I was talking about someone else's mother, I would refer to her as お<ruby>母kaa</ruby>さん.



	It is important to note that this rule applies only when speaking with a non-family member.
	It is perfectly natural to call one's own mother お<ruby>母kaa</ruby>さん when addressing her directly.
	You can think of it this way: just as you do not use the polite suffix -さん when talking about yourself,
	neither do you use the polite form when speaking about your own family.



	Another point worth noting is that when referring to your family members with the plain form,
	you do not need to use <ruby>私watasi</ruby>の(my) or <ruby>私watasi</ruby>たちの(our),
	as this would be redundant.



	Below is a list of the different family words in both their plain and polite forms. Some words, however, do not have a different plain and polite form.
	For these words, simply use the suffix -さん when talking about someone else's family.


<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Plain Japanese</th>
			<th>Polite Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>father</td>
			<td><ruby>父titi</ruby></td>
			<td>お<ruby>父tou</ruby>さん</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>mother</td>
			<td><ruby>母haha</ruby></td>
			<td>お<ruby>母kaa</ruby>さん</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>older sister</td>
			<td><ruby>姉ane</ruby></td>
			<td>お<ruby>姉nee</ruby>さん</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>older brother</td>
			<td><ruby>兄ani</ruby></td>
			<td>お<ruby>兄nii</ruby>さん</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>younger sister</td>
			<td><ruby>妹imouto</ruby></td>
			<td><ruby>妹imouto</ruby>さん</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>younger brother</td>
			<td><ruby>弟otouto</ruby></td>
			<td><ruby>弟otouto</ruby>さん</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>parent(s)</td>
			<td><ruby>親oya</ruby></td>
			<td><ruby>親oya</ruby></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>(both) parents</td>
			<td><ruby>両ryou親sin</ruby></td>
			<td>ご<ruby>両ryou親sin</ruby></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>


	The ご that you see in ご<ruby>両ryou親sin</ruby> is an honorific similar to お in for example お<ruby>店mise</ruby>.
	The difference is that お is used in front of words that use an originally Japanese, or <ruby>訓kun読yo</ruby>み pronuncation,
	whereas ご is used in front of words that use pronunciations that are derived from Chinese, called <ruby>音on読yo</ruby>み.

Family members

hiragana character

kanji

adnominal

adverb

auxiliary

conjunction

compound

i-adjective

interjection

noun

na-adjective

numeral

particle

case particle

conjunctive particle

discourse particle

prefix

pronoun

suffix

verb

sentence

hiragana writing

kanji writing

kanji component

reading vocabulary

katakana writing

katakana character

godan - group 1

itidan - group 2

group 3

transitive

intransitive

proper noun

discourse

phrase

expression

adjectival noun

adverbial phrase

adjectival phrase

The verb to be

Hiragana 1

Kanji 1

Writing hiragana 1

Writing kanji 1

Hiragana 2

Kanji 2

The question particle か

Writing hiragana 2

This one and that one

Writing kanji 2

Reading exercise 1

Reading exercise 2

Hiragana 3

Negating nouns

Writing hiragana 3

The topic particle は

Kanji 3

The possession particle の

い-adjectives and な-adjectives

The subject particle が

Here and there

There is, there are

Writing kanji 3

Kanji 4

Group 1 verbs, direct and indirect objects

Group 2 verbs

Hiragana 4

Verbs in the past tense

Negating verbs

Invitations and the particle と

Negating past verbs

Writing hiragana 4

Reading exercise 3

Writing kanji 4

Reading exercise 4

Kanji 5

Nouns and the past tense

This and that

The group 3 verbs する and 来る

The discourse particles ね and よ

The location particles に and で

Hiragana 5

Writing hiragana 5

Writing kanji 5

The destination particles に and へ

Kanji 6

The origin particle から

Hiragana 6

Relative positions

Conjugating い-adjectives

Writing hiragana 6

Writing kanji 6

Hiragana 7

Writing hiragana 7

Kanji 7

Conjugating な-adjectives

How are you?

The particle も

The word ちょっと

Reading exercise 7

Question	Answer
father ^plain	父ちちchichi
My father is in good health.	父ちち　は　元げん気き　です。chichi wa genki desu. sentence from Taboeba
mother ^plain	母ははhaha
older brother ^plain	兄あにani
older sister ^plain	姉あねane
portable; cellphone	携けい帯たいkeitai
My father and mother bought my older brother and older sister a cellphone.	父ちち　と　母はは　は　兄あに　と　姉あね　に　携けい帯たい　を　買かいました。chichi to haha wa ani to ane ni keitai o kaimashita.
father ^polite	お父とうさんotousan
mother ^polite	お母かあさんokaasan
older sister ^polite	お姉ねえさんoneesan
(Your) sister will come on Wednesday.	お姉ねえさん　は　水すい曜よう日び　に　来きます。oneesan wa suiyoubi ni kimasu.
older brother ^polite	お兄にいさんoniisan
What are the names of your father's older sister and older brother?	あなた　の　お父とうさん　の　お姉ねえさん　と　お兄にいさん　の　名な前まえ　は　何なん　です　か？anata no otousan no oneesan to oniisan no namae wa nan desu ka?
younger sister	妹いもうと(さん)imouto(san)
younger brother	弟おとうと(さん)otouto(san)
elementary school	小しょう学がっ校こうshougakkou
to commute, to go (somewhere regularly)	通かようkayou
(My) younger brother and younger sister go to elementary school.	弟おとうと　と　妹いもうと　は　小しょう学がっ校こう　に　通かよって　います。otouto to imouto wa shougakkou ni kayotte imasu.
both ~	両りょう〜ryou〜
(both) parents	(ご)両りょう親しん(go)ryoushin
marriage	結けっ婚こんkekkon
to marry	結けっ婚こんするkekkonsuru
When did (your) parents get married?	ご両りょう親しん　は　いつ　結けっ婚こんしました　か？goryoushin wa itsu kekkonshimashita ka?
office worker	サラリーマンsarariiman
My father is an office worker.	父ちち　は　サラリーマン　です。chichi wa sarariiman desu.
parent(s)	親おやoya
to find; to discover	見みつけるmitsukeru
He found his parents.	親おや　を　見みつけました。oya o mitsukemashita.
sibling	兄きょう弟だいkyoudai
(I) have three siblings.	三さん人にん　の　兄きょう弟だい　が　います。sannin no kyoudai ga imasu.
And you, do you have siblings?	あなた　は　兄きょう弟だい　が　います　か？anata wa kyoudai ga imasu ka?

Japanese 172 - Family members

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