Please help me to read this English sentence:

[Koir]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Hi.
I have written another composition.
I think you might not be interested in this subject, but this is to improve my English.
Could someone help me?


“Japanese Honorifics”

One of my friends asked me two questions about Japan. This was one of them.

The Contract318 : My first question is: What is the meaning of calling someone _____chan vs _____san. In my Japanese class we are called by our last names with san at the end, which I think means Mr./Mrs. However, many times in manga people say "-chan" at the end. Is this something said just between friends?

Answer : Yes.

The Japanese language has five common honorifics to add at the end of names of people.
“San”, “chan”, “kun” “sama” and “dono”.
“Dono” is used scarcely. You write it when you direct letters to lower ranking people. That means that writing the honorific makes you appear bossy.
When my younger brother has wrote to me using it, I got angry and complained. He said that he writes many letters to his patients with the honorific every day, and he had used it out of pure habit. He is a doctor. Still, I believe he was arrogant.
I think only Tennoh (the Japanese Emperor) can use that when he writes to Japanese people.
When you write letters, you must write “sama”.
“Sama” is also used to call customers. Shop assistants and clerks usually call their customers with “sama”.
By the way, we call god/gods “kamisama”. This “sama” is the honorific.

When you call your boss and fellow mates, you should add “san” to their family names.
If you are very elderly, you can call young subordinates with “kun”. However, I don’t recommend it.
If you are a male student, you would call your male friends with “kun” or just their names without an honorific, and would call your female friends with “san”. If the person is your girlfriend, you can call her without an honorific as well.
If you are a female student, you would call your female friends with “san”. When the friends are very close, you can call them with “chan”.
When you are an adult, you must be very friendly to call friends with “chan” or to be called with “chan”.

Is it complicated?
Don’t worry. You can always say “san”.
Good luck!
Thank you!!

Sorry about the long wait.

Not much done here beyond changing verb tenses and adding expressions like "as well" to indicate a concept being applied to two situations in a sentence. Also, some indications of your younger brother misusing an honorific were replaced with the pronoun "it" to make reading the sentences go smoother.

Excellent information as always, Yuri!

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Koir

Made some revisions, but I have to be going now. I'll add more explanations when I get back.

Thanks!
I will wait.

[ColinHowell]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Prefixes are confusing, because both “in-“ and “im-“ mean “not”, right?
At the same time, “in” in “increase” does not mean “not”, but “up”.
“Im” in “impossible” may means “not”, but in “import” and “immigrant”, it doesn’t mean “not”, but “in”. (!!!) This is really complicated.

Oops, I didn't realize the can of worms I was opening here. So I looked up the prefixes and some of the specific words on Wiktionary.

(An aside: I also recommend Wiktionary as a potentially useful reference, even though the quality of entries can vary a lot. It's especially nice if you want to trace a word's etymology or look up words in different languages. Tracing the etymologies of words is an activity I'd recommend to anyone interested in building vocabulary; it helps you to see the patterns in the sea of different words, and it can be interesting in its own right.)

"Im-" is apparently just a variant spelling of "in-" which is used before the consonants "m", "b", and "p". That seems to be done to make the word easier to say; if you try saying "inpossible", "inport", and "inmigrant", you might find that the sounds don't flow as easily. It might be a bit like the way the Japanese syllable ん, usually pronounced like "n" and transliterated as "n", is pronounced more like "m" (and often transliterated as "m") before a syllable beginning with "m", "b", or "p".

(For the same reason, "in-" becomes "ir-" before an "r" ("irresistible", "irresponsible") and "il-" before an "l" ("illegal", "illegible").)

You're right that "in-" (and the variants "im-", etc.) can have different meanings depending on the word. There seem to be two major meanings: one is "not", and the other is similar to the English word "in" and other words of similar meaning ("within", "toward").

The "im-" in "impossible" has the meaning of "not".

The "im-" in "import" and "immigrant" has the meaning of "in" or "inward". ("inward" is another example of the use of "in-" to mean "in").

One way to help tell the difference is to ask yourself what the opposite of the word is. If "in-" means "not", the opposite is usually formed by dropping the prefix. So we have "independent"/"dependent", "impossible"/"possible", "irresponsible"/"responsible", "illegal"/"legal".

But if "in-" means "in", the opposite is often formed by using a different prefix: "inward"/"outward", "import"/"export", "immigrant"/"emigrant". Note the other prefix used may vary from word to word, sometimes because the words came from different languages.

I agree, this is all complicated, and the rules aren't foolproof. For example, "increase". The "in-" here seems to derive from the meaning "in" rather than "not", at least in the Latin word from which "increase" originated; it apparently had the meaning of "to grow within". But that seems quite obscure to me. However, "increase" still seems to follow the "opposite" rule I mentioned: the opposite of "increase" is "decrease" rather than "crease", and "increase" certainly doesn't mean "not crease"!

One other example of how it pays to be careful: the word "inflammable". This one is notorious among English speakers, because it sounds like the opposite of "flammable". But both have the same meaning! ("Inflammable" apparently comes from the same root as "inflame".) Getting that one wrong could be quite hazardous...

[Columbine]

Koir has already been through most of this, so I won't go through it again. I'll just add this:

"When you call your boss and fellow workmates, you should add “san” to their family names."

And give you a few questions to think about.
When you introduce yourself, would you say "call me Yuri," or "call me with Yuri". What's the difference? Is there a more formal word for 'call' or 'to say someone's name'?

Can you now see the mistake in your work?

Answer: (highlight between to see) If you are a female student, you would address your female friends with “san” (highlight between)

You could also say 'using' instead of 'with'.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by ColinHowell

Oops, I didn't realize the can of worms I was opening here. So I looked up the prefixes and some of the specific words on Wiktionary.

(An aside: I also recommend Wiktionary as a potentially useful reference, even though the quality of entries can vary a lot. It's especially nice if you want to trace a word's etymology or look up words in different languages. Tracing the etymologies of words is an activity I'd recommend to anyone interested in building vocabulary; it helps you to see the patterns in the sea of different words, and it can be interesting in its own right.)

That site seems to be very helpful. Thank you.

I agree, this is all complicated, and the rules aren't foolproof. For example, "increase".

I will study what you have written. I need time….
Thank you!

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Columbine

Koir has already been through most of this, so I won't go through it again. I'll just add this:

"When you call your boss and fellow workmates, you should add “san” to their family names."

And give you a few questions to think about.
When you introduce yourself, would you say "call me Yuri," or "call me with Yuri". What's the difference? Is there a more formal word for 'call' or 'to say someone's name'?

Can you now see the mistake in your work?

Answer: (highlight between to see) If you are a female student, you would address your female friends with “san” (highlight between)

You could also say 'using' instead of 'with'.

I see.
I didn’t know the difference between “call” and “address”.
Then, when I say “Hi, Columbinesan!”, I address you with “san”, or address you using “san”. Is that right?

Thank you!

[Koir]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Thanks!
I will wait.

Okay, I have some small explanations of my revision in my original response.

[Columbine]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

I see.
I didn’t know the difference between “call” and “address”.
Then, when I say “Hi, Columbinesan!”, I address you with “san”, or address you using “san”. Is that right?

Thank you!

Yes, both of those are right Vocabulary is difficult sometimes; there's lots of words with very similar meanings, but slightly different nuances.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Columbine

Yes, both of those are right Vocabulary is difficult sometimes; there's lots of words with very similar meanings, but slightly different nuances.

It was really helpful.
“I address him with ‘san’”. I see.
I will remember that.
Thank you.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Koir

Okay, I have some small explanations of my revision in my original response.

Koir, thanks as always.