Thea Ongchua

Family is no doubt one of the most important things in any culture. For people who are getting married soon or already are (congratulations!), you might be curious about Japanese words for family members. There are many ways to say husband in Japanese: otto (夫 / おっと) is the general term, but shujin (主人 / … Read more

Among the first few vocabulary we learn in any language is how to call our family members. A standard word for father in Japanese is otousan (お父さん / おとうさん). But did you know that there are many other ways to refer to your father in Japanese? Depending on who you are speaking to or talking … Read more

Unlike the English language, there is no single word for ‘brother’ in Japanese. In fact, it is hard to separate the importance of age and hierarchy in the family in learning about family members. Ani (兄 / あに) is the word for ‘older brother’ while otouto (弟 / おとうと) means ‘younger brother’. The words for … Read more

Learning about how to refer to family members can be a little tricky in Japanese! Generally, there are two standard Japanese words for sister: ane (姉 / あね) for ‘older sister’ and imouto (妹 / いもうと) for ‘younger sister’. These two words, however, have different variations depending on context, age, who you are speaking to, … Read more

The standard Japanese word for mother is okaasan (お母さん / おかあさん). This word is typically used when speaking to your own mother or talking about somebody else’s mom. But did you know that there are many ways to refer to mothers in Japanese? Other words like haha (母 / はは) and haha oya (母親)are used … Read more