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 or not it is one's own family member that one refers to.



	So, for example, if I was referring to my own mother in conversation I would use <ruby>母<rt>はは</rt></ruby>,
	but if I was talking about someone else's mother, I would refer to her as お<ruby>母<rt>かあ</rt></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<rt>かあ</rt></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<rt>わたし</rt></ruby>の(my) or <ruby>私<rt>わたし</rt></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<rt>ちち</rt></ruby></td>
			<td>お<ruby>父<rt>とう</rt></ruby>さん</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>mother</td>
			<td><ruby>母<rt>はは</rt></ruby></td>
			<td>お<ruby>母<rt>かあ</rt></ruby>さん</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>older sister</td>
			<td><ruby>姉<rt>あね</rt></ruby></td>
			<td>お<ruby>姉<rt>ねえ</rt></ruby>さん</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>older brother</td>
			<td><ruby>兄<rt>あに</rt></ruby></td>
			<td>お<ruby>兄<rt>にい</rt></ruby>さん</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>younger sister</td>
			<td><ruby>妹<rt>いもうと</rt></ruby></td>
			<td><ruby>妹<rt>いもうと</rt></ruby>さん</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>younger brother</td>
			<td><ruby>弟<rt>おとうと</rt></ruby></td>
			<td><ruby>弟<rt>おとうと</rt></ruby>さん</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>parent(s)</td>
			<td><ruby>親<rt>おや</rt></ruby></td>
			<td><ruby>親<rt>おや</rt></ruby></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>(both) parents</td>
			<td><ruby>両<rt>りょう</rt>親<rt>しん</rt></ruby></td>
			<td>ご<ruby>両<rt>りょう</rt>親<rt>しん</rt></ruby></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>


	The ご that you see in ご<ruby>両<rt>りょう</rt>親<rt>しん</rt></ruby> is an honorific similar to お in for example お<ruby>店<rt>みせ</rt></ruby>.
	The difference is that お is used in front of words that use an originally Japanese, or <ruby>訓<rt>くん</rt>読<rt>よ</rt></ruby>み pronuncation,
	whereas ご is used in front of words that use pronunciations that are derived from Chinese, called <ruby>音<rt>おん</rt>読<rt>よ</rt></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	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。 titi to haha ha ani to ane ni keitai wo kaimasita.
Meaning	My father and mother bought my older brother and older sister a cellphone.
Part of speech	sentence
Pronunciation

topic particle	は ha
at; on; in; to; for [indirect object particle]	に ni
to buy	買かう kau
direct object particle	を wo
and; or; with; if	と to
portable; cellphone	携けい帯たい keitai
father ^plain	父ちち titi
mother ^plain	母はは haha
older sister ^plain	姉あね ane
older brother ^plain	兄あに ani

Japanese

titi to haha ha ani to ane ni keitai wo kaimasita.

Breakdown of titi to haha ha ani to ane ni keitai wo kaimasita.

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