Thursday, April 21, 2011

What does the 'kun' and 'san' written after the names in Japanese mean?

Question:


like I watched an anime serial where a character's name was Touya-kun. I also saw another character whose name i don't remember but it had a 'san' at the last. I have seen many characters with similar surnames.. What is the meaning of it?

Answer:


They are honorifics. They are put after a name. Like Mr of Miss, but not really

~kun is given to boys (sometimes girls) generally same age or youger than you. Used amongst friends, it gives an informal touch. It is also used by higher ups when addressing younger [male] people (eg teacher to student)

~san is given to anyone that you want to give respect to. eg older people, or people you aren't familiar to.

other ones include ~ chan (like ~kun, informal, younger girls), ~sama (master) , ~sensei (teacher, professor etc), ~niisan (elder brother) and many more

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