{"id":20335,"date":"2026-10-27T16:02:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T16:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/forum.timesofu.com\/?p=20335"},"modified":"2026-10-27T16:02:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T16:02:53","slug":"japanese-suffixes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/forum.timesofu.com\/?p=20335","title":{"rendered":"Japanese suffixes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Name Honorifics &amp; Titles<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These attach directly to a person&#8217;s name. Never use these to refer to yourself, as doing so is considered deeply arrogant in Japanese culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Suffix Japanese Meaning &amp; Usage<br>-san \u3055\u3093 The universal default. Polite and gender-neutral. Equivalent to Mr., Ms., or Mrs.<br>-sama \u69d8 High respect. Used for customers, clients, deities, or royalty.<br>-kun \u541b Casual \/ Downward. Mostly used for male peers, younger boys, or male subordinates.<br>-chan \u3061\u3083\u3093 Cute \/ Affectionate. Used for young children, close friends, pets, or family.<br>-tan \u305f\u3093 Baby talk variation of -chan. Heavily used in anime culture or idol fanbases.<br>-senpai \u5148\u8f29 Senior. Used for someone with more experience in your school, club, or workplace.<br>-sensei \u5148\u751f Expert. Used for teachers, doctors, lawyers, politicians, or authors.<br>-shi \u6c0f Formal print. Used in newspapers, academic papers, and legal summaries to reference people.<br>-dono \u6bbf Lord\/Master. Archaic suffix. Appears today in awards, historical anime, or business certificates.<br>-b\u014d \u574a Little boy. An affectionate way to refer to very young boys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Business &amp; Occupational Suffixes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are common job titles that serve double duty as suffixes when appended to a person&#8217;s last name in a professional environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>-shach\u014d (\u793e\u9577): Company president<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-kaich\u014d (\u4f1a\u9577): Chairman<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-buch\u014d (\u90e8\u9577): Department manager<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-kach\u014d (\u8ab2\u9577): Section manager<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-hakase (\u535a\u58eb): PhD holder, doctor, or professor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Word-Building &amp; Grammar Suffixes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These suffixes attach to base words to change their meaning, grammatical function, or status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People &amp; Groups<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>-jin (\u4eba): Person of a specific nationality (e.g., Nihon-jin = Japanese person).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-ka \/ -ke (\u5bb6): Specialist, professional, or family lineage (e.g., Gaka = Painter \/ Artist).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-sha (\u8005): Person involved in a specific field or act (e.g., Isha = Medical doctor).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-ya (\u5c4b): Shopkeeper or profession type (e.g., Hon-ya = Bookstore).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-tachi (\u9054): General plural marker for groups of people or animals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-ra (\u3089): Casual or humble plural marker for people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Modifiers &amp; Descriptions<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>-teki (\u7684): Turns a noun into an adjective, similar to &#8220;-al&#8221;, &#8220;-ic&#8221;, or &#8220;-like&#8221; (e.g., Bunka-teki = Cultural).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-ppoi (\u3063\u307d\u3044): Tendency or &#8220;-ish&#8221; quality (e.g., Kodomo-ppoi = Childish).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-me (\u76ee): Ordinal numbering suffix (e.g., Ichiban-me = First in order).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-sa (\u3055): Turns adjectives into abstract nouns, similar to &#8220;-ness&#8221; (e.g., Takasa = Height, from takai \/ high).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Time &amp; Money<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>-ch\u016b \/ -j\u016b (\u4e2d): Throughout, during, or currently in progress (e.g., Shigoto-ch\u016b = In the middle of work).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-dai (\u4ee3): Cost, fee, or generations\/decades (e.g., Denwa-dai = Phone bill).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>-ry\u014d (\u6599): Usage fee or rate (e.g., Jugy\u014d-ry\u014d = Tuition fee).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-questions-answers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/forum.timesofu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/forum.timesofu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/forum.timesofu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forum.timesofu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forum.timesofu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/forum.timesofu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20336,"href":"http:\/\/forum.timesofu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20335\/revisions\/20336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/forum.timesofu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forum.timesofu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forum.timesofu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}