Family

[Powermad147]

So far, I've heard only a few ways to say brother and sister, as well as mom and dad, but have no idea if they are right...What i think I know is:

Oni-san/sama/chan (Brother, Sister, different emphasis?)

Otou-Sama/san (Dad, possibly mom?)

Sorry, I really know so little because I've only learned what I could from subtitles, so I'm not sure how many flaws there are in the already so simple 2 word list I have here -_-. I would be really inerested to know how to refer to my family in japanese: uncles, aunts, sisters, brothers, cousins, etc. Thank you in advance, arigatou gozaimasu!

[Kritan]

Check thisone out, it is my best friend when in need!

Denshi Jisho - Online Japanese dictionary


If you dont know how to read Hiragana/Katakana you may want to check "Kana as romaji" for convenience

[LearnAmazingJapanese]

Originally Posted by Powermad147

So far, I've heard only a few ways to say brother and sister, as well as mom and dad, but have no idea if they are right...What i think I know is:

Oni-san/sama/chan (Brother, Sister, different emphasis?)

Otou-Sama/san (Dad, possibly mom?)

Sorry, I really know so little because I've only learned what I could from subtitles, so I'm not sure how many flaws there are in the already so simple 2 word list I have here -_-. I would be really inerested to know how to refer to my family in japanese: uncles, aunts, sisters, brothers, cousins, etc. Thank you in advance, arigatou gozaimasu!

Here's a quick (not exhaustive) rundown:

Older Bro: Oniisan, oniichan, niichan, ani, aniki
Older sis: Oneesan, oneechan, neesan, neechan, ane
Little Bro: Otoutosan, otouto
Little Sis: Imoutosan, imouto
Father: Otousan, otouchan, tousan, chichi, chichiue, oyaji
Mother: Okaasan, kaachan, kaasan, haha, hahaue, ofukuro
Cousin: Itoko
Aunt: Obasan, bachan, oba
Uncle: Ojisan, jichan, oji
Grandma: Obaasan, baasan, obaachan, baachan
Grandpa: Ojiisan, jiisan, ojiichan, jiichan

Safe rule of thumb: if it has a "san" at the end of it, then that's the word you use for someone else's relative in general (doesn't work 100% of the time, but 85% gets you close). If it ends in "chan" or anything other than "san," then use it to refer to your own relatives (same disclaimer applies).

Like I said, the list is in no way exhaustive...still quite a few more variations, but I think this covers most of what you'll run into (or hear in anime).

If I made any glaring omissions, I'm sure someone will chime in.

HTH.

[Powermad147]

Thank you very much! I feel pathetic loving anime as much as I do, yet having no knowledge of japanese T_T. Sad to say, my dad hates anime, and even HE knows more japanese than me...Course, he works for Izuzu, so he knda has to know a little japanese, but it's still unfair

[8May1993]

兄　（あに） = (My) older brother
弟　（おとうと） = (My) younger brother
姉　（あね） = (My) older sister
妹　（いもうと） = (My) younger sister

when you are talking about your sister/brother you use these words, however you cant use them when talking about someone else brother or sister becuase its not respectful. thats why you use polite form of these verbs

兄　become 　お兄さん　（おにいさん） = (Your) older brother
弟　become 　弟さん　　（おとうとさん） = (Your) younger brother
姉　become 　お姉さん　（おねえさん） = (Your) older sister
妹　become 　妹さん　　（いもうとさん） = (Your) younger sister

[dougbrowne]

Question.. What if you are referring to someone's brother or sister and you do not know weather they are older or younger.. What would you use?

[kirakira]

Originally Posted by dougbrowne

Question.. What if you are referring to someone's brother or sister and you do not know weather they are older or younger.. What would you use?

Pick one at random and get corrected or just ask whether it is older/younger brother/sister first. You can stay ambiguous in English but not in Japanese.

[8May1993]

Originally Posted by dougbrowne

Question.. What if you are referring to someone's brother or sister and you do not know weather they are older or younger.. What would you use?

you can simply use the word for sibling: 兄弟 (kyou-dai) this is more common if you don't know whether they are older or younger, it can be said for both sisters and brothers.