Quando Usar Chan San?
Você já deve ter visto os personagens em obras japonesas (como animes) falarem “kun, san, chan, sama” e muitos outros para se referirem a outra pessoa, por isso entenda aqui o que significa esses honoríficos.
It's worth noting that there's no solid rule that kun is used for boys; there are instances where kun is used for girls, too. It's just more common to use it for younger boys.
Japanese honorifics for beginners
A great example of this is お茶, ocha – cha is the word for green tea, but it is almost exclusively referred to as ocha in day-to-day Japanese. You also see it commonly used in family honorifics. For example, the word you’d use to casually address your older brother is niisan, but when being more polite or formal, it becomes o-niisan.
Sensei literally means “teacher.” As such, it’s a plain old noun, but it’s also an honorific. Watch any anime which takes place in a school, and you’ll notice students refer to their teachers not with san, but with sensei. And since sensei is also gender neutral, it’s a rather nice alternative to the “Ms. / Mrs. / Miss / ?!?!” debacle I had to put up with during my school career. Sensei can really refer to any instructor-type, or anyone with a lot of knowledge or who has mastered their craft, like doctors or professional musicians/artists.
Don't stop now...keep going, learner-san!
Notably, -sama also appears in the polite phrase said at the end of a meal in Japan, gochisosama(deshita), the flip side of itadakimasu – both of which use honorifics to convey respect and humbleness.
You may have heard of the word sensei if you've studied martial arts, but it's not only used for karate masters. Here are some situations where you'll hear and use sensei.
According to Busuu’s resident Japanese expert, “Japanese honorifics are all about politeness. They’re a little tricky, but they’re very important. See, politeness is of the utmost importance in Japanese culture, and that importance is reflected in the language system.”
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You can add the honorific san for people you've just met, ideally with their last name (if they introduced themselves as such). San is used for strangers and for people with whom you have a neutral or professional relationship. Here are some more examples where -san is generally used:
Fun fact: When the current emperor's sister married a commoner, she technically became a commoner. After the wedding, Japanese news reporters switched how they referred to her from -sama to -san. (Our resident Japanese experts thought that was kind of mean.)
Sensei
So when speaking to an unfamiliar older person, you’d go for more polite language, while when speaking to a younger person who you know well, you’d be expected to use more casual language. It’d be oddly formal to use that polite language.
-Chan, as mentioned above, is a similarly informal, familiar suffix used for people you’re close with. The more feminine nickname, it has a cutesy and childlike connotation. It takes its roots from children mispronouncing -san, but has found its way into regular use.
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San is essentially the default honorific, and it’s the most common. The closest word in English would be “Mr./Ms./Mrs.,” etc., except that san is gender-neutral and used in a much, much broader series of social contexts. San is for almost everyone. You can use it with bosses or a friend’s moms, but it doesn’t have to refer to someone older or higher in status, either. Co-workers can also be san. Unless you’re an adult introducing a child, whenever you meet someone for the first time, you use san. In many situations, you may never drop the san. Hell, san is even for that awkward space where you’ve hung out with someone a couple times, but you’re not really sure if you’re friends yet. When someone tells you to drop the “san“—as happens in a handful of anime—it’s a big deal. It means either that person wants to be treated casually, or it’s a sign that a friendship is becoming closer. In peer situations—like between two kids who are good friends—the use of san can come off as reverential, but that’s not usually the case.
This is not an unfamiliar concept, if you think about it. We often speak to our friends differently than we speak to our boss or grandmother – the Japanese language just formalises those adjustments through grammar and honorific speech.
Most of the time! You can use the handy chart above to figure out which honorifics are appropriate for the situation. In fact, it’s generally considered rude to refer to someone by just their family name without an honorific in Japan, with few exceptions, even when you become more familiar. (The primary exception is athletes on the same team, if you happen to be a famous basketball player.) The act of calling someone by just their family name is called 呼び捨て (yobisute), from yobu (to call) and suteru (to throw or abandon).
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Sama is basically the intense version of san. Like san, it’s gender-neutral, but it holds a much higher degree of deference. As such, it’s often used to reflect social rank and tacked onto people like kings (“Bossu-sama,” like the king in Ranking of Kings), princesses (“hime-sama” – think Zelda), or god (“kami-sama,” like God Eneru in One Piece). In a true one-sentence summation of the vibe of Japanese customer service, it’s also often used to refer to guests in restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality situations (you’ll now notice “okyakusama” all the freaking time).
For example, the phrase that’s said before starting a meal – いただきます(itadakimasu) – is from a humble ‘to eat’. What you hear when you enter stores and restaurants – いらっしゃいませ (irasshaimase) – is from a respectful ‘to come’. And when you hear people say もしもし (moshimoshi) on the phone? That comes from a humble ‘to say’.
5. Sama
And there you have it! That’s Japanese honorifics explained. Now you know a bit about san, chan, kun and how to use them. But learning doesn’t stop here.
However, one common and important way honorific speech is applied is in the prefixes and suffixes we use to refer to other people indirectly and to address them directly. These additions are referred to, simply, as honorifics.
Kun is one of the gender-associated honorifics. It’s much more casual than san and is typically used for young or teenage boys—”Shinji-kun!” or “Kawaoru-kun!,” for example. However, you can use kun for a girl you’re very close to. Actually, kun is a good choice in general for people who are close to you. I (half-jokingly) refer to my partner with “kun” when talking to Japanese friends and associates. It’s also a good choice for people (men, in particular) of lower or equal status to you at work or school.
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This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
Critical to the high school romance genre, senpai is for someone who is your “senior” in some way. Perhaps they are a higher grade in your high school. Perhaps they’ve worked at your office for longer. Both would be acceptable senpai situations. But a senpai is still in your social strata—a fellow employee, but not your boss. Don’t go calling your teacher “senpai.“ Anime culture at large really loves a good, attractive senpai, though.
Using these honorific names correctly can make even basic Japanese feel more natural and correct to the situation – while getting these wrong can result in an awkward moment.