JLPT N5 Vocabulary – How to Refer to Family

Table of Contents

1. How to Refer to Family
2. When talking about your own family
3. When talking about someone else’s family
4. What do you call them within the family?
5. Summary
6. Quiz
7. Similar Articles
8. Comments

Q: How do you use “母はは” and “お母かあさん” differently?

A: In Japanese, the way you refer to family members changes depending on whether you are talking about your own family or someone else’s family.
For example, when you talk about your own mother to someone outside your family, you say “母はは”.
On the other hand, when you talk about someone else’s mother, you say “お母かあさん”.
This is because “お母かあさん” shows respect toward the other person’s family.

	Your own family	Someone else’s family *You can change “さん” to “さま”
Family	家族かぞく	ご家族かぞく
Father	父ちち	お父とうさん
Mother	母はは	お母かあさん
Grandfather	祖父そふ	おじいさん
Grandmother	祖母そぼ	おばあさん
Older brother	兄あに	お兄にいさん
Younger brother	弟おとうと	弟おとうとさん
Older sister	姉あね	お姉ねえさん
Younger sister	妹いもうと	妹いもうとさん
Husband	夫おっと、主人しゅじん	ご主人しゅじん
Wife	妻つま	奥おくさん
Children	子こども	お子こさん
Son	息子むすこ	息子むすこさん
Daughter	娘むすめ	娘むすめさん
Parents	両親りょうしん	ご両親りょうしん

When talking about your own family

When you talk about your own family to someone outside your family, you do not add “さん” or “お・ご”.

“さん” and “お・ご” are expressions that show respect toward the other person or the other person’s family. Therefore, they are generally not used for your own family.

Also, in Japanese, even if you do not say “my”, the listener can often understand from the context that you are talking about your own family.

[Examples]
父ちちは会社かいしゃ員いんです。
My father is a company employee.

母ははは買かい物ものに行いきました。
My mother went shopping.

兄あにはサッカーが上手じょうずです。
My older brother is good at soccer.

妹いもうとは宿題しゅくだいをしています。
My younger sister is doing her homework.

祖母そぼと祖父そふは元気げんきです。
My grandmother and grandfather are well.

両親りょうしんは東京とうきょうに住すんでいます。
My parents live in Tokyo.

When talking about someone else’s family

When you talk about someone else’s family, you use polite forms of address.
In many cases, you add “さん”.
Also, for words such as “家族かぞく”, “両親りょうしん”, and “主人しゅじん”, you add “ご” before the word.
“父ちち”, “母はは”, “兄あに”, and “姉あね” are expressions used when talking about your own family, so they are not used for someone else’s family.

[Examples]
お父とうさんはお元気げんきですか。
How is your father?

お母かあさんはいらっしゃいますか。
Is your mother home?

弟おとうとさん、絵えが上手じょうずなんですね。
Your younger brother is good at drawing, isn’t he?

お姉ねえさんはご結婚けっこんされているんですか。
Is your older sister married?

おばあさまへのプレゼントですか。
Is this a present for your grandmother?

ご夫婦ふうふでお出でかけですか。
Are you going out with your spouse?

What do you call them within the family?

“父ちち” and “母はは” are used when you talk about your own family to people outside your family.
When you call them directly at home, you usually say “お父とうさん” and “お母かあさん”.
Also, older brothers and older sisters are often called “お兄にいちゃん” and “お姉ねえちゃん”.
Younger brothers and younger sisters are often called by their first names within the family.

[Examples]
A：お姉ねえちゃん、わたしのマンガ知しらない？
B：知しらないよ。ゆみの部屋へやにないの？
A: Older sister, do you know where my manga is?
B: I don’t know. Isn’t it in your room?

A：あれ、お父とうさんとお母かあさんはどこ？　
B：お父とうさんはおじいちゃんの家いえに行いって、お母かあさんはお兄にいちゃんと出でかけたよ。
A: Oh, where are Dad and Mom?
B: Dad went to Grandpa’s house, and Mom went out with our older brother.

Common ways to call family members at home

Father	お父とうさん
Mother	お母かあさん
Grandfather	おじいちゃん
Grandmother	おばあちゃん
Older brother	お兄にいちゃん
Younger brother	They are often called by their first names
Older sister	お姉ねえちゃん
Younger sister	They are often called by their first names

Summary

• When you talk about your own family to people outside your family, you do not add honorific titles.
• When you talk about someone else’s family, you use “さん・さま” and “お・ご” to speak politely.
• When you call family members within the family, you often use “さん” or “ちゃん”.
• Be careful, even for the same family member, the way you refer to them changes depending on whether you are talking to people outside your family or calling them at home.

Quiz

Read the following sentence and choose the expression that fits the context from the options provided in the parentheses.

Click on the question to check the answer.

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