Japanese

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

Word	妹いもうと(さん)imouto(san)
Meaning	younger sister
Part of speech	noun
Pronunciation
Course	Japanese
Lesson	Family members

(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 ha syougakkou ni kayotte imasu.
(My) sister has long legs and likes sports.	妹いもうと　は　足あし　が　長ながくて、　スポーツ　が　好すき　です。imouto ha asi ga nagakute, supootu ga suki desu. Sentence from Tatoeba
I'm taller than my younger sister.	私わたし　の　方ほう　が　妹いもうと　より　背せ　が　高たかい　です。watasi no hou ga imouto yori se ga takai desu.
Your sister is clever^{isn't she}. And, she’s a beautiful woman.	あなた　の　妹いもうとさん　は　頭あたま　が　いい　だ　ね。　それから　美び人じん　だ。anata no imoutosan ha atama ga ii da ne. sorekara bizin da.

imouto(san)

Breakdown of imouto(san)

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Usages of imouto(san)

polite name ender	さんsan
妹	younger sister