Here we are on the fourth lesson of this part. Again, this will be a very long lesson, you’ll have a lot to memorize. Hang on, the following lessons will be much lighter, don’t worry.
So, what are honorary suffixes ? These are suffixes that we’ll place after the name of a person when we address this person or when we mention it to indicate the position of the speaker in relation to this person. A relationship often based on mutual respect. These suffixes often accompany other indicators of politeness that we’ll see later, including the polite form of verbs that we’ll explore in detail in the third season. You probably already have an idea of what these suffixes are, they are very present in the Japanese language and if you have already consumed manga, anime, video games, Japanese films... you have certainly already seen them sometimes.
In Japan, politeness has a very important place even in everyday life, so it is very important to master these honorary suffixes. I will start by making a list of them, then I will describe very precisely the different rules of use and how these suffixes can be translated into English. Since in English, we do not have honorary suffixes, you’ll see how the translators transcribe them from Japanese to English.
As with personal pronouns, there are a very large number of honorary suffixes that you may never come across. In this course, I’ll introduce you the most used.
さん
The first Japanese honorary suffix to learn is さん, it is used with those we do not know well, regardless of gender, age or social position. It’s a neutral term that we could almost translate as « Mister / Sir / Madam » and it is the most widely used of all. We place it after a person’s name when we address that person or when we mention it. For the first example, let’s imagine that I speak directly to a woman named Nishino. I will address her directly by appending the suffix さん. Then, in the second example, I’m going to do the exact same thing but this time I’m going to mention that person when talking to someone else :
西野さん,お元気ですか。
にしのさん,おげんきですか。
How are you, Ms. Nishino ?
In the example above, I’m speaking directly to Ms. Nishino, I use the expression we saw in the course on polite phrases « how are you ? ». Note that I am using the polite form です in my sentence to be consistent with using the suffix さん.
Now let’s see the second example :
西野さんは何処にいるの?
にしのさんはどこにいるの?
Where is Ms. Nishino ?
Here I am not speaking directly to Ms. Nishino. This time I’m talking to someone else. I’m not necessarily going to use the polite form but since I’m talking about Ms. Nishino and I have a lot of respect for her, I still use the suffix さん. You see that in Japanese, in general, when we call someone by name – this is the case here in the first example – we place the name at the beginning of the sentence. As much in English, we say :
How are you, Ms. Nishino?
The name is at the end of the sentence. As much in Japanese, it is recurrent to place the name of someone at the beginning of the sentence to introduce the said sentence. We first address the person by quoting it name with the appropriate suffix before saying the sentence.
This suffix さん is therefore widely used to name someone we are not necessarily close to but it can also be used within a couple. This is not the case for all couples but it can happen that each other of the members speak to each other using the suffix さん.
The honorary suffix さん is sort of the default honorary suffix which leaves little room for error, however be careful. This suffix is used primarily with family names but can also be added to a first name. If you are a school teacher, you’ll call your students by their last name + さん. You can also call them by their first name + さん although some people might find it rude. If you are in a professional environment in Japan and need to address your Japanese colleagues who are of the same rank as you, and you are not sure which honor suffix to use, use さん.
様 . さま
The use of 様 . さま is the most formal of all, it is very particular. It is a more respectful version of さん and is used in some formal contexts to address people of very high status, such as in the workplace, with customers or more generally speaking of Japanese deities : 神様 . かみさま. The Japanese honorary suffix connotes social superiority and because « the customer is king », he will be named お客様 . おキャクさま, which could translate to a simple « sir / madam the customer », but in an extremely polite and formal manner. It also happens that 様 . さま be attached to certain names that designate a group or audience, like 皆様 . みなさま, giving a mark of respect to listeners. Finally, this honorary suffix is found in certain widely used expressions such as the famous お疲れ様です. おつかれさまです, said after hard work.
So, this honorary suffix that can be used in several different cases is sometimes quite difficult to translate. Since we do not have an honorary suffixes’ system in English, we will instead use adjectives like « great », « all-powerful », « divine »... For example, if we want to translate 天照様 . あまてらすさま (Amaterasu is the name of the solar deity in Japanese folklore), we can translate to something like « O great Amaterasu » or « O divine Amaterasu ».
Sometimes the suffix 様 . さま does not necessarily translate. You remember that in a previous course we talked about Japanese personal pronouns, subjects of the Japanese language that we do not necessarily have in English, nuances that do not necessarily exist in English, and therefore we can’t translate.
君 . クン
I continue with the honorary suffix 君 . クン intended for adolescents and young men, which is used to address all male people for whom we have affection. It is a particle with a low politeness level and its kanji is the same as that of 君 . きみ, which means « you » in the colloquial form. It is used when we are talking with a friend (male), a classmate (male), a little brother or a younger boy. In English, this suffix would translate as « my little ». For example, « My little Yamada » if we actually have affection and are close to that person.
Boys and men use it with girls and women only if they are very close and reciprocally, girls will use it with them too. For example, a friend (female), a classmate (female) or an employee at the office in a professional setting (female too).
ちゃん
I continue with the suffix ちゃん which is generally used towards a woman, towards an endearing, cute girl. The most informal suffix of all, believed to be a derivative of さん from children who cannot pronounce the [s] sound. This little mistake is considered cute to the Japanese, so the term has stuck in the language. It is used to lovingly address young women you are close to, children, a baby, an animal or a grandmother you cherish. It can very well also be used in a couple or when talking about a very appreciated person. You should therefore be careful with its use and do not use it with people about whom you do not know much.
As a general rule, the suffix ちゃん is really reserved for people who are very young, most often below adulthood. It’s very rare to use it with his / her own grandmother although it is possible.
Note that the word « baby » in Japanese is said to be 赤ちゃん . And 赤 . あか means « red » and you place after the honorary suffix ちゃん to say « something red ». It might sound weird, but that’s how the word « baby » is in Japanese.
The suffix ちゃん is a little bit like 君 . クン but there is a difference. 君 . クン, it’s someone who is younger than you so, for example, if you are 50 years old you are going to use it on a man who is 45 years old or less.
Finally, we have a derivative of ちゃん which is たん, an even cuter version, as if the suffix ちゃん were incorrectly pronounced by a child. People use it a lot on the internet but I have never found it very present in manga and anime.
氏 . シ
Then we have the honorary suffix 氏 . シ which, just like 様 . さま marks respect. It can be translated as « sir » or « madam » depending on whether you are addressing a man or a woman. It is used towards a person that we do not know directly, so we are in the case in which we mention someone, not in the case in which we are addressing someone that we do not know directly. This suffix is used in official formal speeches, particularly on news broadcasts, in various TV shows with a speaker or presenter, and on legal documents.
I’m not sure we’ve seen it but be aware that the honorary suffix 氏 . シ is found in the word 彼氏 . かれシ which means « the boyfriend ». Now you know why we put 氏 . シ on 彼 . かれ which basically means « he ». And in the course on units of measurement we saw 摂氏30度 . セッシ30サンジュウド to say « 30 degrees celsius ». So, what is this 摂氏 . セッシ. In fact, it is the Celsius so « mister Celsius » that the Japanese quite simply have shortened to 摂氏 . セッシ.
Well ! Now that I’ve introduced you to honorary suffixes, it’s time to see the rules of use.
The most commonly used Japanese honorary suffixes are さん, 君 . クン, ちゃん, 様 . さま, they all have a different role and are used in different contexts. If you know a little bit about Japanese culture, you must have noticed that someone else’s first name is rarely used. Therefore, honorary suffixes are attached to last names and it is also very rude to simply call someone by their last name. There are some cases where the suffix will be attached to the first name for various reasons such as proximity to a person or if you are a foreigner, because unlike Japan, we present ourselves with our first names and not our last names and the Japanese will have tended to respect this choice.
Say you have a person in front of you called 星野 千鳥. Personally, I don’t know of any 星野 千鳥 but it’s just for the example. We agree that 星野 is the last name and 千鳥 is the first name. A female first name by the way. If I’m not particularly close to that person, if it’s just my teacher for example and I have a lot of respect for him / her (always respect your teachers!), I will say instead :
星野さん → (which, in English, will mean « Mrs Hoshino »)
If the person is a mangaka that I adore and for whom I have a lot of admiration, for example 鳥山 明 and 北条 司, I will say :
鳥山さん i 北条さん
Toriyama is the last name of Toriyama Akira, the creator of Dragon Ball and Hōjō is the last name of Hōjō Tsukasa, the creator of City Hunter and Glass Heart.
Returning to our imaginary character 星野 千鳥. Now imagine that I am close to this person, she is a classmate with whom I get along very well and I’ve already invited her to my house on my birthday for example, I will rather say :
千鳥さん → (which, in English, will simply translate to « Chidori »)
So, I hope you understand that we can put an honorary suffix on both the last name and the first name while « Mister » or « Madame » in English, we put them only on the last name.
If we ever have both first and last name all in Japanese, so we put the honorary suffix on the latter. So, if we have a person named 星野 千鳥, this will give us 星野 千鳥さん. Remember that in Japanese the last name always comes first. As you already know, in a sentence in Japanese there is no space between words. On the other hand, in the credits at the end of the films or of an episode of a TV series, there is always a small space between the last name and the first name to separate them well.
I also want to clarify; it is possible to use honorary suffixes with foreign names written in katakana. I will take as an example Hercules Poirot, in Japanese :
ヘラクレス・ポイロット → (translated from English so « Heracles »)
We can say as well say :
ヘラクレスさん,
ポイロットさん,
ヘラクレス・ポイロットさん,
And note that we keep the western order with first name first and last name last. I remember to call someone by their [last name] + an honorary suffix, it is an alternative to あなた. Remember あなた is used to address someone by calling it by name, but it can be much better, much more polite to put [last name] + an honorary suffix ; it is really very useful so as not to have to talk to a person. あなた, it’s still a little bit tricky.
Then, in principle, an honorary suffix must be placed on a proper name, at least in 90% of cases. Because it is also possible to put it on common names to transform them into proper names. This may be to give a cute side. For example, you want to show your affection to a cat, you are going to call it 猫さん .ねこさん. In English, we will translate as « mister cat ».
We can also put honorary suffixes on the name of the stores, for example a bakery which says パン屋, if we add the suffix さん, that gives us パン屋さん which means « mister the baker / madam the baker ». We can also name a person directly by his profession by putting an honorary suffix after. So, I take another example for the same scheme :
作家 . サッカ . The writer
作家さん . サッカさん . Mister the writer / madam the writer
And then in general we can put honorary suffixes on names that refer to people, like for example 皆 . みんな which means « everyone ». We can add さん after. So, beware there is a small transformation of pronunciation, it is pronounced 皆さん. みなさん to say « everyone » but in a more polite way.
And since we had already seen in particular どちら様 . どちらさま to say « who » in a very polite way, now you understood. It’s どちら on which we added 様 . さま.
Finally, we also saw in the previous course お客様 . おキャクさま. Note the honorary prefix お which we will discuss in more detail in the next course.
Also know that you should never use these same suffixes when talking about yourself because it sounds very pretentious. This practice is very common on the internet where people give themselves nicknames with suffixes to speak of themselves but in everyday life, in real life within Japanese society, it is very badly perceived. In manga and anime, this can be a way of translating a character with an oversized ego, a certain pretension but as far as you are concerned, don’t do that. It would be a little equivalent to the personal pronoun 俺 . おれ which is also considered pretentious and even aggressive.
The term « honorary » is very important here, because it is the key to understanding the secret of this complex communication system. Japan relies on a very important hierarchical system, based on criteria such as age or social status. Depending on your profession, the position you hold, the degree of seniority, you may find yourself in a condition of superiority, inferiority or neutrality towards another person. All these factors are thus reflected on linguistic production, resulting in a more or less formal language. Japanese honorary suffixes vary not only depending on who is involved, but also depending on different factors, such as degree of trust, origin, education or gender. And even as a foreigner, following these rules is important in order to be well received in the country. Subsequently, if you make friends with Japanese people, it may happen that someday one of them will say to you « Well, we’ve known each other for a long time, you can call me 君 . クン or ちゃん ». But if not, prefer the appropriate honorary suffix. It is better to appear too polite than not at all.
So, I hope you understood correctly that whatever happens, you must use an honorary suffix. Even with a person who is close enough to you, with whom you have a lot of proximity that you call him by his first name : your boyfriend, your girlfriend, a classmate, your childhood friend, your spouse or someone who has the same status as you in your sports team...
However, when you are part of a group, for example your family or your business; in this group, there are members that you will have to respect and on which you will put an honorary suffix. But when you talk about your group, your group members to someone outside that group, then you are not going to put honorary suffixes on your group members. This is not strange; it is actually the principle of modesty in Japanese. And to show their modesty the Japanese like to show humility, and for that they DO NOT put honorary suffixes when talking about a member of their group to a person OUTSIDE the group. It’s very important not to raise someone who is part of your team when talking to someone outside the team.
Finally, we saw at the very beginning of the lesson the honorary suffixes and which should be used according to your social status and your relationship with your interlocutor. Well, I don’t know if we could say that this is exceptional or not, but it can happen that people with a very intimate relationship, people who are very close to each other, talk to each other without using honorary suffixes. This is something that, in practice, is seen as unthinkable in Japan, especially by the older generations. So, if in a manga, movie or series, you happen to find that two characters are talking to each other without using honorary suffixes, don’t be surprised, it happens.
As you know, we have never used honorary suffixes although we have used names in all courses until now. In Japanese, this is not done normally but I did this because I did not want to discuss honorary suffixes before having seen with you the Japanese grammar, particles... Now that all this is done, we finally approach the honorary suffixes so, from now on, following this course, you will inevitably find in the example sentences and the exercises surnames and first names with suffixes and, possibly a context which justifies the use of this or that suffix.
Phew ! Now that this second part is finished, we will move on to the third : the honorary titles.
So instead of using an honorary suffix, it is common to use a person’s title after their name as if it is an honorary suffix. Just so you know, what we’re going to see are not suffixes, grammatically they are nouns.
The best known is undoubtedly 先生 . センセイ which exactly corresponds to a specialist in his field, someone who has reached a certain level recognized by all. It is very often a teacher but it can also be a doctor, a master of martial arts, a musician or a mangaka. For example, 鳥山 明, he’s the manga artist who wrote in particular Dragon Ball and also Doctor Slump. He is extremely well known and respected in Japan, especially in the world of mangakas. He is often call 鳥山先生 . とりやまセンセイ. Keep in mind, however, that 先生 . センセイ most often corresponds to a teacher, so in English, we often translate it as « teacher ». However, remember what will follow, it is important. There is a difference to be made between honorary titles and honorary suffixes. Unlike honorary suffixes, titles can be used on their own, without a name before, to designate a person directly by their title, their social status.
I am using the same sentences from earlier with Mrs Hoshino. If this one is a teacher or a mangaka, we will say :
西野先生,お元気ですか。
にしのせんせい,おげんきですか。
How are you, Mrs. Nishino ?
西野先生は何処にいるの?
にしのせんせいはどこにいるの?
Where is Mrs. Nishino ?
So, I took the same sentences, I just replaced さん by 先生 . センセイ, it is the same format. We put the honorary title in place of the honorary suffix. And as I told you just before, we can also use the honorary titles without the first name before :
先生,お元気ですか。
せんせい,おげんきですか。
How are you, professor ?
先生は何処にいるの?
せんせいはどこにいるの?
Where is the teacher ?
We can use honorary titles alone like that, so without the first name that goes before everything. This is of course impossible with honorary suffixes and often the distinction between the two is not made, so understand this difference in use. Besides, the honorary titles will also be a good alternative to あなた. We will be able to talk to someone directly by calling him 先生 . センセイ, and then also an alternative to あなたの. For example, to say « your desk », I could say 先生の机 . せんせいのつくえ. Thus, I create a possession with the honorary title.
博士 . はかせ
I continue with a second honorary title, 博士 . はかせ that we will assign to a doctor (person with a doctorate degree). It is a term that is also often translated as « teacher ». There is a nuance to be seen between 先生 . センセイ who is a specialist in his field, and 博士 . はかせ who really is a doctor. Often this term refers to a scholar, scientist or inventor. In Pokemon, for example, Professor Chen who gives you your very first Pokemon; in Japanese it is オーキド博士 . オーキド, that’s his name, and since he’s a scientist 博士 . はかせ come after. And by the way, maybe most of you will remember, in the particle は, lesson, I gave you an example sentence. See below :
ワトソン博士はシャーロック・ホームズの助手だ。
ワトソンはかせはシャーロック・ホームズのじょしゅだ。
Doctor Watson is Sherlock Holmes’s assistant.
Eh yes ! Doctor Watson, in Japanese, is translated ワトソン博士 . ワトソンはかせ.
先輩 . センパイ
I continue with 先輩 . センパイ which refers to an older person, an elder or higher in the same category as his or her, in the same structure, for example at school or in a sports club or at work. How are we going to translate it? There are a lot of people who use the word in English but this word does not exist in the language so the most correct thing to do is to call people directly by their first name or by their last name. Exactly as we do in English in the relations between comrades.
And conversely, we have 後輩 . コウハイ that we have already seen in the previous lesson, to address a person younger than yourself, a cadet or below. We will not use it as an honorary title because it is considered demeaning, depreciating. Instead, we’ll use the honorary suffixes 君 . クン and ちゃん which have roughly the same meaning and are therefore a good alternative.
陛下 . ヘイカ
And I end with 陛下 . ヘイカ which corresponds to a monarch, a sovereign, for example a king, an emperor... It is the English equivalent of « Majesty ». When we talk to a king, a ruler, we’ll not put 様 . さま, we’ll put 陛下 . ヘイカ which is a title specially reserved for monarchs and rulers. In English, we can translate these titles in many different ways, for example « Majesty », « Highness », « Excellency »... it is in fact the rank of the monarch in question. As usual you will often come across this term in manga, video games, anime, movies... All this constitutes a very important vocabulary to learn but also to know how to use.
And then we have a third category that resembles the honorary titles but will once again have a little different use. These are the non-honorary titles. I present only three of them below but already know that the Japanese language is full of non-honorary titles. We will see more as we go in the following courses.
殿 . との / どの
We have for example 殿 . との / どの which we will pronounce after the name. This non-honorary title will be awarded to a lord. Used at the time of the Middle Ages, it is a title which is not too much used today but which gives a grandiose style. This non-honorary title is often found in games, manga, anime, movies; in all the stories that take place in the days of feudal Japan. This non-honorary title was attributed exclusively to men and great lords because only men could be lords in feudal Japan.
坊 . ボウ
Then we have 坊 . ボウ which is also a non-honorary masculine title and which corresponds to a young boy for whom we have tenderness, a baby for example. This time, we’re for good on the male equivalent of ちゃん but it’s a title and not an honorary suffix.
We find the kanji 坊 . ボウ in the word 坊主 . ボウズ which means « a bonze » is the name given to Buddhist priests. This word is not used too much nowadays in Japan except in the stories which take place in the past, generally during the times of feudal Japan. Some youkais also are bonzes and therefore we find the word 坊主 . ボウズ in their name. For example, in « Attack on Titan », we have a character called John and his mother calls him ジーン坊 . ジーンボウ by putting 坊 . ボウ after his first name.
Today in general, it is clearly replaced by 君 . クン but it doesn’t quite have the same meaning. It is 君 . クン which will replace this 坊 . ボウ. Besides, the word « baby » can also be said 赤ん坊 . あかんボウ so just like 赤ちゃん . あかちゃん but here it is the non-honorary title 坊 . ボウ which replaces the ちゃん. Again 赤ん坊 . あかんボウ is a term that is overused, it is a term that is used mostly by older people today.
I end with one last anecdote : in « Dororo », Hyakkimaru’s mother, one of the main protagonists of the series, calls her son 坊や . ボウや when she sees him in the distance. The word 坊や . ボウや means « boy » or « child » but here it is much more in the sense of « my boy » or « my child ». You know that the word 子供 . こども is the word most used to say « child », to also refer to his or her own children. Well, the word 子供 . こども a has largely replaced the word 坊や . ボウや which was used much more a few centuries ago.
Today you can find expressions like お坊様. おボウさま or お坊ちゃま . おボウちゃま, often used to describe children from wealthy families. The last one, ちゃま, is a combination of ちゃん and 様 . さま, mixing the respectful side and the cute and affectionate side. Finally, know that the word 坊 . ボウ, with or without an honorific prefix and suffix, can also be used ironically to qualify a child or an adult as « spoiled rotten », to tease or to emphasize the innocence of a young boy / young man who knows nothing about the workings of the world.
Once again, I remind you, Japanese is a very contextual language. If we just take the word 坊 . ボウ, depending on whether we use it with the suffix ちゃん or the suffix 様 . さま or the suffix ちゃま, with or without the honorary prefix お, depending on the person using that word and the relationship that person has with the person they call that name, depending on the social status of the speaker and the interlocutor as well as the context or situation in which this word is used, there are a myriad of possible meanings and translations.
Note: we have not yet seen the honorary prefix お but that will be the topic of the next lesson.
姫 . ひめ
And then we also have 姫 . ひめ which is feminine and designates a princess, a girl from a noble family that we often come across in works of Western but also Japanese inspiration. For example, もののけ姫 . もののけひめ . princess Mononoke. In One Piece we have しらほし姫 . しらほしひめ, and then in The Legend of Zelda, Princess Zelda, which is said ゼルダ姫 . ゼルダひめ.
However, you normally know another word that means « princess », and this word is 王女 . オウジョ. It is therefore time that I explain to you the nuance between the non-honorary title 姫 . ひめ and the word 王女 . オウジョ because both mean « princess ». In short, 王女 . オウジョ means « the king’s daughter » with the kanji of « king » and « daughter », and 姫 . ひめ does not necessarily mean the king’s daughter but more generally a girl from a noble family. So, it will sometimes be used effectively when we speak of the king’s daughter, but it can be a girl who is not from the royal dynasty. The title 姫 . ひめ is much wider than 王女 . オウジョ. It is also a non-honorary title. I quickly introduce you below all the family :
王 . オウ, it’s the king;
女王 . ジョオウ, it’s the queen.
王子 . オウジ, it’s the prince and…
王女 . オウジョ, it’s the princess.
The word for « king » is 王 . オウ, and sometimes we can say 国王 . コクオウ.
Both terms exist and they are both non-honorary titles.
Now that all of this has been presented, what is the difference between honorary titles and non-honorary titles ? They have the same two uses. They can be used after a name or alone but when the non-honorary title is used alone, it itself needs an honorary suffix or an honorary title after it to have that honorary aspect it doesn’t have alone. I give you examples :
Princess Zelda.
ゼルダ姫 . ゼルダひめ
We’re going to say Zelda. I put the non-honorary title after the first name, I think you understood so far. But when I mean « princess » only to call her by her title, I can’t just say 姫 . ひめ because it would sound quite familiar. It would be possible if it is a relative. But if this is a servant of the princess and he wants to call her « princess », we’ll have to add after an honorary suffix さん. Well, in this case, we’ll rather use 様 . さま , which gives us 姫様 . ひめさま to say « princess ».
Second example :
Queen Elizabeth II
In Japanese :
エリザベス2世
So, « Elisabeth », we know how to write it in katakana. 2世, that’s how we say « II », it is a unit of measurement to indicate the order of succession. It is placed after a name. And then 女王 . ジョオウ to say « the queen ». If I want to use only his non-honorary title then 女王 . ジョオウ, I have to put something after, either an honorary suffix or an honorary title. Here we will put the honorary title 陛下 . ヘイカ since it is a queen :
女王陛下 . ジョオウヘイカ
Her majesty the queen
As said above, there are many non-honorary titles specific to different fields, especially the business world. You will have the opportunity to find out more in future lessons. Basically, we have honorary suffixes, honorary titles and non-honorary titles. These are elements that we will put after someone’s name, but we still have an important nuance between the three. It is important to understand this nuance because the three are very often confused.
Let me summarize: the honorary suffix is only placed after a name, the honorary title is only placed after a name or is used alone, and the non-honorary title can be used after a name and also alone but when it is alone it has itself needs an honorary suffix or an honorary title.
The Japanese don’t necessarily differentiate between all of this. They make a fairly instinctive natural use without needing to differentiate between these three categories. Sometimes it happens to them to mix up a little, sometimes to put honorary suffixes or honorary titles when it is not necessary to put some. In fact, there are no strict rules for them, since they don’t learn the rules, don’t be surprised if you come across some oddities, especially among the elderly who like to add さん and 様 . さま in any occasion. It corresponds to their way of expressing themselves. So be aware that you may come across some slightly bizarre cases, especially when we want to be ironic, when we want to speak ironically to someone while being polite. It’s a way of politely showing contempt by using さん and 様 . さま when it is not needed. You have been warned.
We have seen everything there is to see about honorary suffixes. I now put below a quick summary of all the honorary suffixes we have seen in the course.
さん → is used with those we do not know well, regardless of gender, age or social position, a neutral term that we could almost translate as « Mister / Sir / Madam ». Very used to name someone who is not necessarily close but this suffix can also be used within a couple.
様 . さま → more respectful version of さん and is used in some formal contexts to address people of very high status, such as in the professional, with clients or more generally speaking of gods.
君 . クン → intended for adolescents and young men, which is used to address all male people for whom we have affection. Use when talking with a friend (male), classmate (male), little brother or younger boy. Boys and men use it with girls and women only if they are very close and reciprocally, girls will use it with them too. For example, a friend (female), a classmate (female) or an employee at the office in a professional setting (female too).
ちゃん → informal suffix intended most often for very young people, generally used towards a woman, an endearing, cute girl. It is used to lovingly address young women you are close to, children, a baby, an animal or a grandmother you cherish. It can very well also be used in a couple or when talking about a very appreciated person. Do not use it with people about whom you don’t know much. Derivative : たん, an even cuter version.
氏 . シ → it can be translated as « sir » or « madam » depending on whether you are addressing a man or a woman. It is used towards a person that we do not know directly. This suffix is used in official formal speeches, particularly on news broadcasts, in various TV shows with a speaker or presenter, and on legal documents.
先生 . センセイ → honorary title granted to a specialist in his field, someone who has reached a certain level recognized by all, very often a teacher, a doctor, a martial arts master, a musician or even a mangaka.
博士 . はかせ → honorary title granted to a doctor (person with a doctorate degree), is different from 先生 . センセイ which is awarded to a specialist in a field, 博士 . はかせ is awarded to a real doctor with a doctorate in his pocket.
先輩 . センパイ → honorary title which designates an older person, a senior or higher in the same category as his own, in the same structure, for example at school or in a sports club or at work. Most often does not translate into English.
後輩 . コウハイ → is not considered so much an honorary suffix. Used to address a person younger than yourself, a cadet or below. We will not use it as an honorary title because it is considered demeaning, depreciating. Instead, we’ll use the honorary suffixes 君 . クン and ちゃん which have roughly the same meaning and are therefore a good alternative.
陛下 . ヘイカ → honorary title granted to a monarch, a sovereign, for example a king, an emperor. Most often translated as « Majesty », « Highness », « Excellency ».
殿 . との / どの → non-honorary title, translates to « Lord », very masculine, gives a grandiose style, very present in the stories taking place at the time of feudal Japan.
坊 . ボウ → non-honorary title, which is also a male non-honorary title and which corresponds to a young boy for whom we have tenderness, a baby for example. Male equivalent of ちゃん.
NOTE : there is two different words to say « baby ». Either 赤ん坊 . あかんボウ to refer to a male baby, either 赤ちゃん . あかちゃん which can be used for both a male and female baby (even though the ちゃん suffix is rather feminine).
姫 . ひめ → non-honorary title, translates to « princess » and can designate either the king’s daughter or a daughter of a noble family.
王 . オウ → non-honorary title, translates to « King ».
国王 . コクオウ → non-honorary title, translates to « King ».
女王 . ジョオウ → non-honorary title, translates to « Queen ».
王女 . オウジョ → non-honorary title, translates to « Princess ». This title designates very precisely the king’s daughter.
王子 . オウジ → non-honorary title, translates to « Prince ». This title designates very precisely the king’s son.
Well, there are other non-honorary titles like :
部長 . ブチョウ → « head of department, manager ». May designate the general manager or the head of a department (legal, editorial, etc.)
課長 . カチョウ → « head of Service ». May designate the section manager, the section or department head.
会長 . カイチョウ → « president ». May designate the president of an assembly, a group or an association.
社長 . シャチョウ → « president ». Designates the president of the company (the CEO)
館長 . カンチョウ → « chief, director ». Designates the head or director of structures ending in 館 as 図書館 (the library).
There are still others, we will discover them a little later. But you can also look them up in the dictionary right away.
Finally, before coming to the conclusion, I will teach you two other very important terms so you can say « Mister / Sir » and « Madam » quite simply, without honorary suffixes. Since, as we have seen in this course, we cannot use honorary suffixes on their own, we are forced to use them after someone’s name. So, if we just want to call someone « mister / sir » or « madam », what do we do? Just say :
伯父さん .おじさん → « Mister / Sir » (often written お父さん.)
伯母さん .おばさん → « Madam » (often written お母さん.)
Both are usually written in kanji. There are other words which will also have these meanings which we will discuss in detail in the vocabulary course entitled « the family of others ».
I can finally give you your exercises, as often theme and version. In the first exercise, I give you some sentences in English and you will have to translate them into Japanese. And for each sentence, you will have a proper name with an honorary suffix, an honorary title or a non-honorary title to put. Pay close attention to the indications given to you. For most sentences you will need to put the verb in the polite form, but don’t worry, if this is the case the polite form of the verb will be shown to you. For the second exercise, it will be the same except that the sentences are in Japanese and you will have to translate them into English.
This course is finally over, it was the last most massive course of this second season. The courses to follow will be much lighter. As usual, be diligent in your work and don’t give up.
Take pleasure in learning, this is the most important and I wish you all good revisions.
Introduction