When to use san, kun, and chan

It's not nearly as complex as English, but as usual we find ways to screw it up.
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Azarath_Gen
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When to use san, kun, and chan

Post by Azarath_Gen »

san (~さん)" is a title of respect added to a name. It can be used with both male and female names, and with either surnames or given names. It can also be attached to the name of occupations and titles.

kun (~君)" is used to address men who are younger or the same age as the speaker. A male might address female inferiors by "~ kun," usually in schools or companies. It can be attached to both surnames and given names. It is less polite than "~ san." It isn't used between women or when addressing one's superiors

chan (~ちゃん)" is often attached to children's names when calling them by their given names. It can also be attached to kinship terms in a childish language. :D
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Re: When to use san, kun, and chan

Post by Pink Supervisor|EL »

belongs in Japanese language...and everybody who watches subs/fansubs should know this by now ^_^
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Re: When to use san, kun, and chan

Post by Jasse »

Would be nice if people could report once seeing something wrong in a section. Anyways, moved.
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Re: When to use san, kun, and chan

Post by Dreams »

よくやったね!(ノ^ー^)ノ

But it should be noted that '~kun' is becoming more universal, just like the usage of 'boku' and other words that were once considered strictly male. '~kun' now simply denotes a sign of friendship amongst all gender combinations. And it is usually written くん, since 君 is more commonly used to represent 'kimi' ('you').
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Re: When to use san, kun, and chan

Post by Mistrust »

tahnk you for this little lesson .
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Re: When to use san, kun, and chan

Post by Hallow »

Interesting.
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Re: When to use san, kun, and chan

Post by geishaboy »

Dreams wrote:よくやったね!(ノ^ー^)ノ

But it should be noted that '~kun' is becoming more universal, just like the usage of 'boku' and other words that were once considered strictly male. '~kun' now simply denotes a sign of friendship amongst all gender combinations. And it is usually written くん, since 君 is more commonly used to represent 'kimi' ('you').
You should all take note of this, because it is true. Although a woman would never refer to another woman with "~kun", they quite often use "boku" and other male words. In fact, what used to be called "male Japanese speech" is now being called "standard Japanese speech". Using what was female speech comes off really polite, so it should be used when you are trying to impress someone, or talking to a superior.

It should be noted, that when we say "superior" we mean one of the following

1 - Someone who is higher than you in a company (for example - your boss)

2 - Someone who is higher than you in society (for example - a teacher, doctor, lawyer or professor)

3 - Someone who is high than you in age (pretty simple - the elderly, poeple in a higher class in school, business or those who are married with kids)
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Re: When to use san, kun, and chan

Post by ccppfan »

Azarath_Gen wrote:san (~さん)" is a title of respect added to a name. It can be used with both male and female names, and with either surnames or given names. It can also be attached to the name of occupations and titles.

kun (~君)" is used to address men who are younger or the same age as the speaker. A male might address female inferiors by "~ kun," usually in schools or companies. It can be attached to both surnames and given names. It is less polite than "~ san." It isn't used between women or when addressing one's superiors

chan (~ちゃん)" is often attached to children's names when calling them by their given names. It can also be attached to kinship terms in a childish language. :D
:D
hmm but in Cased Closed Kazuha calls Ran "Ran-kun" and the're both girls...
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