Japanese Honorifics

emiri

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Could you please explain them to me?
Like who to use them for (ages, gender, relation) etc.
 

Merita

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rollin

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San-brother
Nissan-older brother
Chan-sister
Niichan-older sister
Sama-lord
 

emiri

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thankyou but do you think that I could use -kun for guys on this site even though we're just friends, not close friends?
 

Shuuya

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Kun-boy
Chan-girl
San-can be used for both boys/girl
Info from-My Japanese class ;)
 

jonaTHEninja

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thankyou but do you think that I could use -kun for guys on this site even though we're just friends, not close friends?

I think you can :D
 

UchihaBrat

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Kun-boy
Chan-girl
San-can be used for both boys/girl
Info from-My Japanese class ;)

I believe you can use -kun for girls as well as you can use -chan for younger boys(children usually).
-San is the honorific used when showing respect, usually towards elders, seniors in a company(school etc.) and so on. Both sexes as you say.

Also, when you'd close to someone, it happens that you drop honourifics and start using only names, given names, if really close.
 

Vulpes

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Yes, but Japanese will never use honorifics on themselves which I've see happening a lot among manga/anime fans ( also in your signature ) , and it is very annoying.
 

Takure

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San-brother
Nissan-older brother
Chan-sister
Niichan-older sister
Sama-lord

Not quite.
-san is used between equals of any gender or age.
-kun is used for guys, usually a friend. It can also be used for girls, when being addressed by an elder.
-chan is used, mostly for younger girls. It can also be used for boys, when being addressed by an elder.
-Nee/Onee means older sister. The "O" is attached for extra politeness.
-Nii/Onii means older bother. ^
Both of these can be attached to -san/-chan depending.

thankyou but do you think that I could use -kun for guys on this site even though we're just friends, not close friends?

I wouldn't. -san would be more appropriate. But, I guess it's upto you.
 

YowYan

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San-brother
Nissan-older brother
Chan-sister
Niichan-older sister
Sama-lord

Don't forget Ossan ^^ stands for midle aged man (40)
 

Sasunarufan13

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If you aren't really close friends, then it's best to add -san to the first or last name because that's the most neutral and most used one.

The closer you are to the person, you can either use -kun for boys (or for younger girls, though it's mostly used for boys), - chan (for girls, or for younger boys though again it's mostly used for girls) or just the name without any honorifics because without those, it implies you're really close (don't drop honorifics when talking to a stranger, someone who is higher in rank or someone you aren't really friends with, because that's considered rude)

Sensei is used for teachers, professors and artists like mangaka and authors.

-Sama is used for people you have to pay respect to like a master in a particular arts for example.

Senpai is not really a honorific but you can call someone that when they are higher than you in school or even at work to signify they are more experienced. Same for kohai though that one is used for students lower in school.

You also have -dono if I remember correctly but that one was mostly used by samurai, so it's out of use now :p
 
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