My Family & Friends

Learn how to talk about your family and friends in Japanese! This lesson covers basic vocabulary, sentence structures, and important cultural nuances to help you introduce your loved ones. Building on your knowledge of dates (from the previous lesson), we can even talk about birthdays!

Vocabulary: Family Members

English	Japanese	Hiragana/Katakana	Romaji	Notes
Family	家族	かぞく	kazoku
Father (formal)	お父さん	おとうさん	otōsan	Used when addressing/talking about someone else's father or formally about your own.
Father (informal/Dad)	父	ちち	chichi	Used when talking about your own father to others. More humble.
Dad (casual)	パパ	ぱぱ	papa
Mother (formal)	お母さん	おかあさん	okāsan	Used when addressing/talking about someone else's mother or formally about your own.
Mother (informal/Mom)	母	はは	haha	Used when talking about your own mother to others. More humble.
Mom (casual)	ママ	まま	mama
Older brother (formal)	お兄さん	おにいさん	onīsan	Used when addressing/talking about someone else's older brother or formally about your own.
Older brother (informal)	兄	あに	ani	Used when talking about your own older brother to others. More humble.
Older sister (formal)	お姉さん	おねえさん	onēsan	Used when addressing/talking about someone else's older sister or formally about your own.
Older sister (informal)	姉	あね	ane	Used when talking about your own older sister to others. More humble.
Younger brother	弟	おとうと	otōto
Younger sister	妹	いもうと	imōto
Grandfather (formal)	お祖父さん	おじいさん	ojīsan
Grandfather (informal)	祖父	そふ	sofu
Grandmother (formal)	お祖母さん	おばあさん	obāsan
Grandmother (informal)	祖母	そぼ	sobo
Husband	夫	おっと	otto	Used when talking about your own husband.
Husband (formal)	ご主人	ごしゅじん	go-shujin	Used when talking about someone else's husband.
Wife	妻	つま	tsuma	Used when talking about your own wife.
Wife (formal)	奥さん	おくさん	okusan	Used when talking about someone else's wife.
Child	子供	こども	kodomo
Son	息子	むすこ	musuko
Daughter	娘	むすめ	musume
Parents	両親	りょうしん	ryōshin
Sibling	兄弟	きょうだい	kyōdai	Used when referring to siblings in general (brothers and sisters).

Vocabulary: Friends & Relationships

English	Japanese	Hiragana/Katakana	Romaji	Notes
Friend	友達	ともだち	tomodachi
Best friend	親友	しんゆう	shin'yū
Boyfriend	彼氏	かれし	kareshi
Girlfriend	彼女	かのじょ	kanojo
Colleague	同僚	どうりょう	dōryō
Classmate	クラスメート	くらすめーと	kurasumēto
Senior (at school)	先輩	せんぱい	senpai
Junior (at school)	後輩	こうはい	kōhai

Example Sentences

• これは私の家族です。 Kore wa watashi no kazoku desu. (This is my family.)

• 彼は私の友達です。 Kare wa watashi no tomodachi desu. (He is my friend.)

• お母さんの名前はゆきです。 Okāsan no namae wa Yuki desu. (My mother's name is Yuki.)

• 私の父は医者です。 Watashi no chichi wa isha desu. (My father is a doctor.) Notice the use of chichi instead of otōsan.

• 彼女は私の親友です。 Kanojo wa watashi no shin'yū desu. (She is my best friend.)

• 田中さんは私の同僚です。 Tanaka-san wa watashi no dōryō desu. (Mr./Ms. Tanaka is my colleague.) Using "-san" is important for politeness.

• 兄は大学生です。 Ani wa daigakusei desu. (My older brother is a university student.) Notice the use of ani instead of onīsan.

• これは妹の猫です。 Kore wa imōto no neko desu. (This is my younger sister's cat.)

Sentence Structure & Grammar Points

1. Possession with "の" (no): As mentioned, "の" indicates possession or belonging.

   • 私の (watashi no): My
   • 家族の (kazoku no): Of the family, family's

   Example: これは私の[名詞]です。 Kore wa watashi no [noun] desu. (This is my [noun].) Example: [人]の[名詞]です。 [Person] no [noun] desu. ([Person]'s [noun]) 例: 妹の犬 Imōto no inu (Younger sister's dog)

2. Introducing People with "は" (wa): The particle "は" marks the topic of the sentence.

   • [Name] は [Relationship] です。 [Name] wa [Relationship] desu. ([Name] is my [relationship].)

     例: 田中さんは私の母です。 Tanaka-san wa watashi no haha desu. (Ms. Tanaka is my mother.)

3. Describing Profession/Occupation with "は" (wa) and "です" (desu): Similar to above, we can use "は" to mark the person and "です" to state their occupation.

   • [Person] は [Occupation] です。 [Person] wa [Occupation] desu. ([Person] is a [Occupation].)

     例: 父は医者です。 Chichi wa isha desu. (My father is a doctor.)

4. Age:

   • To ask someone's age, use: 何歳ですか？ (Nansai desu ka?) (How old are you?) or more politely: おいくつですか？ (Oikutsu desu ka?).
   • To state someone's age, use: [Person] は [Age] 歳です。 ([Person] wa [Age] sai desu.). For example: 妹は10歳です。 (Imōto wa jussai desu.) (My younger sister is 10 years old.)
   • The counter 歳 (sai) is essential when stating age.

5. Using honorifics

   • When talking to or about someone not in your family/close inner circle, it's important to use honorifics.
   • The suffix -さん (-san) is a common general honorific. You will have noticed that Tanaka-san was used in the example sentences above.
   • You also often use the polite form of words to address people outside your immediate family.

More Example Sentences - Putting it All Together!

• これは私の母、花子です。母は看護師です。 Kore wa watashi no haha, Hanako desu. Haha wa kangoshi desu. (This is my mother, Hanako. She is a nurse.)

• 兄は大学生で、20歳です。 Ani wa daigakusei de, hatachi desu. (My older brother is a university student and is 20 years old.) - Note "hatachi" is a special reading for 20 years old!

• 友達の田中さんは先生です。 Tomodachi no Tanaka-san wa sensei desu. (My friend Tanaka is a teacher.)

• 私には弟が一人います。 Watashi ni wa otōto ga hitori imasu. (I have one younger brother.) - This introduces a new grammar point: imasu/arimasu to express existence. We use imasu for people and animals. This sentence structure can be broken down as: Watashi ni wa (As for me), otōto ga (younger brother), hitori imasu (one exists).

• 家族は五人です。 Kazoku wa gonin desu. (My family has five people/members.) - Again, a new counter is used here: nin to count people.

Describing Personality & Appearance (Brief Introduction)

Let's add a little more detail! Here are some basic adjectives. (We'll cover adjectives in more depth in a future lesson.)

English	Japanese	Hiragana/Katakana	Romaji
Kind	優しい	やさしい	yasashii
Funny	面白い	おもしろい	omoshiroi
Strict	厳しい	きびしい	kibishii
Tall	背が高い	せがたかい	se ga takai
Short	背が低い	せがひくい	se ga hikui

• 私の母は優しいです。 Watashi no haha wa yasashii desu. (My mother is kind.)

• 兄は面白い人です。 Ani wa omoshiroi hito desu. (My older brother is a funny person.) Hito means person.

• 父は背が高いです。 Chichi wa se ga takai desu. (My father is tall.)

Practice

1. Introducing your family: Describe each member of your immediate family. Include their name (if you want), relationship to you, and one adjective to describe them.

   Example: これは私の父、健です。父は厳しいです。 (Kore wa watashi no chichi, Ken desu. Chichi wa kibishii desu.) (This is my father, Ken. My father is strict.)

2. Introducing your friends: Describe at least two of your friends. Include their name, how you know them (classmate, colleague, etc.), and one adjective to describe them.

   Example: 田中さんは私のクラスメートです。田中さんは面白いです。 (Tanaka-san wa watashi no kurasumēto desu. Tanaka-san wa omoshiroi desu.) (Tanaka is my classmate. Tanaka is funny.)

3. Counting your family: State how many people are in your family. Example: 家族は四人です。 (Kazoku wa yonin desu.) (There are four people in my family.)

4. Translate the following sentences into Japanese:

   • My older sister is 25 years old.
   • This is my younger brother, Taro. He is a student.
   • My best friend's name is Emily.
     Answer (click to reveal)
   • 姉は二十五歳です。 (Ane wa nijūgo sai desu.) or 姉は二十五です。(Ane wa nijūgo desu.)
   • これは私の弟、太郎です。彼は学生です。(Kore wa watashi no otōto, Tarō desu. Kare wa gakusei desu.)
   • 親友の名前はエミリーです。(Shin'yū no namae wa Emirī desu.)

Cultural Notes

• Humility: As you may have noticed, when talking about your own family members to someone else, you use the humble forms (父、母、兄、姉) rather than the polite forms (お父さん、お母さん、お兄さん、お姉さん). This is a sign of humility in Japanese culture.
• Titles and Honorifics: Always use appropriate titles (like "-san") when talking about people who are not close family members or close friends. This shows respect. Avoid using titles with your own family when talking to them unless the situation calls for formality (which is rare).
• Family names: Family names come first, followed by given names. So Tanaka Hanako is Mr/Ms Tanaka, given name Hanako.

Expanding Vocabulary: Related Concepts

Let's connect this lesson to the previous one on "Days of the Week & Important Dates". We can talk about birthdays!

English	Japanese	Hiragana/Katakana	Romaji
Birthday	誕生日	たんじょうび	tanjōbi
To be born	生まれる	うまれる	umareru
When is your birthday?	誕生日はいつですか？	たんじょうびはいつですか？	tanjōbi wa itsu desu ka?

• 私の誕生日は10月20日です。 Watashi no tanjōbi wa jūgatsu hatsuka desu. (My birthday is October 20th.) Remember to use the correct counter for days!

• 母は5月5日に生まれました。 Haha wa gogatsu itsuka ni umaremashita. (My mother was born on May 5th.)

• 弟の誕生日はいつですか。 Otōto no tanjōbi wa itsu desu ka? (When is your younger brother's birthday?)

Let's add to what you learned last lesson:

• When is your birthday?
• 誕生日いつ？
• Tanjoubi itsu?

This example can be used if the person you are asking to is your same age or is younger than you and you are close.