Tofugu Comments - Latest Comments in What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

oriflame — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:16:14 -0000

Fantastic Post!

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

sarahdaniel — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:25:59 -0000

If a maid or a worker was refering to someone they work for, would they use -sama?

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Emma — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 12:56:14 -0000

Its easier just to use san every time LOL , in anime they used honorifics all the time its so confusing

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

SA — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:37:43 -0000

Hahaha, I know you'd hate me for saying this, but in a lot of animes, the people with Osaka accents usually add "han" at the end (i.e. Emishi from Get Backers says "Shido-han".) That did not make any sense to me until now :P

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

SaKuRa — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:15:27 -0000

actually letters and such are mostly always sama, if you don't know the person really and I believe even if you do, just because its writtin down and therefore it sound better formal I believe. At least that was the case for me always, and I wrote enough thank you letters in japan....

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

karab1n3r_k90 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:37:05 -0000

it is too cr4zi33 f0r m3!!!!!!
gud thing philippines never had that such thing...

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Izeyhec — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:28:54 -0000

this is very good i think because i refer to most people as san but because like most people who watch anime gah i refer to alot of girls by chan not knowing at all what it ment but now i know

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

ally — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:53:41 -0000

i was wondering that too!

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

nii — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:38:21 -0000

There is one thing that I do not understand in this blog entry. If you typically do not refer to yourself with suffix '-san', why would the Japanese have 'san' (or '3' in this case) in their username? That would mean that they are referring to themself as 'san', which is something to be avoided.

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Kitam — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:11:04 -0000

just replying to a post i saw in my email... i didnt have any intention to drag it out, i apologize once again

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Tofugu_Erin — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:00:10 -0000

Probably best to let it go.

The more you point it out, the more people will notice.

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Kitam — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:39:51 -0000

-16 now -_-

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Kitam — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:36:52 -0000

ah man thanks

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

keirakibou — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:32:51 -0000

As for -sama, what about "okusama" and the like?

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Viet — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:40:22 -0000

Anime isn't exactly a good source to reference for proper Japanese language. It has it's own little language. If you want to sound funny and get weird looks, then by all means learn from it.

Here is an article that covers using anime as a language tool
http://www.tofugu.com/2007/06/03/learn-japanese...

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Kurohana — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:09:18 -0000

wait a minute, then why do anime characters (especially cute ones) call all their friends -chan? i usually hear -senpai when talking mostly to senior males in school.

alot of the time okama's like to be referred to as [name]-chan and use Atashi for "I"

i've heard girls referred to as -kun too. I barely hear san when speaking amongst school friends.

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

insomniacgamer — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:50:04 -0000

kitam if you are having a lot of trouble remembering things i suggest that you use a program called Anki, i used to have a lot of trouble remembering all the words even if i wrote them out 30 times each... Anki is just a more effective way of studying (and it's free) here's the link: http://ichi2.net/anki/ give it a shot for a week and i guarentee you'll never study without it again ^_^

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

insomniacgamer — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:44:04 -0000

well maybe since i have been to japan 4 times it makes it easier for me to understand ^_^. i am going to go for my BA in Japanese Language & Literature starting this fall. they also use the genki books and the intermediate book. i have them all already because i self-study a lot. if he's not studying, tell him to stop slacking off :P

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Kitam — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:10:32 -0000

yea, i have a couple of anonymous haters -_-
oh well

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Kurisu — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:20:03 -0000

Oh my, someone gave Kitam -2 pts.!

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Tofugu_Erin — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:40:45 -0000

To my knowledge he's not studying anything right now. The last book he used was probably Formal Expressions for Japanese Interaction. I have a copy, if you'ld like to buy it from me, hehe. Oh, I also have an Integrated Intermediate Approach to Japanese. We use both in the Japanese program at our university. Looks like I've lent that one out to someone, though. I liked that book; I still have most of the conversations memorized, haha. If you want Koichi's opinion (I know that mine probably isn't as credible), though, you should probably email him directly, or use the Tofugu contact form.

P.S. Just because some people can't figure out the proper use of honorifics, it doesn't mean that they're not trying. Then again, I don't know many of our commenters personally, so I have no evidence either way.

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Kitam — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:39:37 -0000

well.. i am sorta the ring leader of the recent out break.. you can tell that based on the fact the ppl felt my offsetting topics to be useless enough to de-rep me 4 times -_-..
i kinda get the picture, i wasn't posting for a status relevant post count.. just moreso to be relevant in general, nahmean... im a goofy person, i make goofy posts.
ive got a load of art to finish tho ^^, so ill reserve my post for topics more relevant to myself. my bad about this, no harsh feelings i hope >.< and thanks

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Kitam — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:37:54 -0000

yea.. its very hard to pick up. i try diligently everyday because its relevant to my arts!

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

insomniacgamer — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:06:40 -0000

i think some people just don't realize they hard work and effort it goes into learning another language...

also i was just curious... what book is koichi studying out of right now?? i know he recommends the Genki series (which is one of the sources i use also) i wonder how he feels about An Intergrated Intermediate Approach to Japanese ( the book after the Genki 1 & 2 series )

Re: What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?

Tofugu_Erin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:21:47 -0000

Hey now, no reason to be disparaging.

Everyone has to start somewhere.