FRIGGIN' HONORIFICS.

I found out that I’ve occasionally accidentally used the “kun” kanji instead of the hiragana. OTL (Isn’t the “kun” kanji the same as “kimi”?)

Also, I was completely unaware of how to use “shi”. So I assumed it was affectionate or something. I seriously narrowly avoided a major mistake just now in my writing…And at what point do you stop using “san” and start using “sama”? And when do you decide to use “kun” and not “chan”?

(ugugugugugugug Korean honorifics are so much easier. Just add –ssi to all your peers, -nim to the people you respect, and –seonsaeng to teachers and doctors. I don’t live in Korea so seonbae and hubae are irrelevant OTL)

And yes, this is very important, as Hana speaks in keigo/hapsyoche. Knowing honorifics for writing fanfics is essential.

And yes, I’m writing fanfiction. Don’t give me that look.

By the way, anyone willing to assist me in writing Chinese polite language?

Hmmm....

If I remember well, it seems like this :

-San = neutral, you can use it for any people...Except your superiours, God and I don't know ._." For example : Tanake-san

-Chan = only for girls who have the same age as you or under (even if you can call an older girl "chan" like in "onee-chan" ) For example : Takara-chan

-Kun = boyish equivalent of "chan" For example (Sorry xD) : Nashi-kun

-Sensei = For teachers. You can use it for someone whom you consider as a teacher or a master For Example = *name of my English teacher*-sensei or just Sensei (yeah, you can just say "sensei" )

-Pon, chin : I don't know exactly what they're, but it's apparently a deformation of another honorific suffix (like "tan" for "chan" )

-Senpai/Sempai = for students (or friends) or for classmates who are older than you

-Kohai = same as Senpai, but the difference is "Kohai" is used for younger people

-Sama = only for God or your superiors, but you can use it for an Idol or a person you love very much For example : Claude-sama

Umm... I don't know anything about Chinese, but "-sama" is usually reserved for someone who you really respect (or who deserves a lot of respect). I'm not sure what that exact point is, though. owo;;

And "-kun" is usually used when you're talking to a boy who you know well enough to be pretty informal with, or if you're an adult talking to a young boy. Also, I've heard that high school teachers use "-kun" with female students. I'm no expert, though. owo;;

EDIT: Ffff, Milly beat me. XD Though I don't think "-kohai" is used as an actual suffix to someone's name that often because it's seen as a little rude.

Lol, sorry xDD

Ah oki doki ^^"

I have NEVER heard of pon/chin. More confusing. =w=

Aren't you supposed to use "san" for superiors? And "chan" was equivalent and "kun" under, but then "kun" is sometimes more masculine and -

Okay, I have no idea.

No, you don't have to call your superiors "san"

"San" is pretty like, flexible. Like, employees of a store (or anywhere, really) would use "-san" to address their customers. You'd use it for strangers, or people you don't really know, or just as a respectful term if you don't want to use "chan" or "kun". It's probably the most flexible honorific.

"Chan" and "kun" are both sort of friendly honorifics. >w> "Kun" implies more masculinity than "chan", so you might call a tomboyish girl "kun". You'd have to be careful about that, though. XD

I'm pretty sure that "tan", "pan", etc. are just cute little nickname honorifics. XD

Um, I haven't heard "sama" used in Chinese before... Definitely heard it in Japanese, though.
From what I know of Chinese...(I could be wrong, though. orz)
There's "xiao jie" for "Miss" or "young lady", 小姐.
"Lao shi" is for "teacher", 老師
"Xian sheng" for "Mister", 先生 (Apparently this can also be used for teachers/masters...)
"Ge ge" is older brother, "Di di" is younger brother.
"Mei mei" is younger sister, "Jie jie" is older sister.
That's all I can think of right now...^^"

But isn't there "-dono" in Japanese for someone you really really respect more than "-sama" or something? *has heard this like twice before* There was a basic list in the cover of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei manga...
Also, "-[blank]" for people who know each other really well.

*looks at jisho*

Oh yeah, "-dono" exists O_O

"殿 どの form of address used for official letters and business letters, and in letters to inferiors; Mr "

StateOfDep wrote:Um, I haven't heard "sama" used in Chinese before... Definitely heard it in Japanese, though.
From what I know of Chinese...(I could be wrong, though. orz)
There's "xiao jie" for "Miss" or "young lady", 小姐.
"Lao shi" is for "teacher", 老師
"Xian sheng" for "Mister", 先生 (Apparently this can also be used for teachers/masters...)
"Ge ge" is older brother, "Di di" is younger brother.
"Mei mei" is younger sister, "Jie jie" is older sister.
That's all I can think of right now...^^"

But isn't there "-dono" in Japanese for someone you really really respect more than "-sama" or something? *has heard this like twice before* There was a basic list in the cover of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei manga...
Also, "-[blank]" for people who know each other really well.

阁下(ge xia)is the equivalent for "sama", right?
and 陛下 (bi xia) is the same thing, and is used like "*prince* 陛下", *king* 陛下", etc. or alone. Right?

For chinese, there's also 太太 (tai tai), which is used for married women I believe. eg. 王太太 (Wang tai tai, Wang being the last name. they use this name all the time in my workbooks lol.)

I don't think chinese has many honorifics you need to know. I'll ask some of my friends when they're online to check.

-shi is for strangers, -kun is for younger boys and male acquaintances, -chan is female(sometimes used on boys as well), and -dono is the highest possible. (Yes, higher than -sama.)

I took Japanese for a while...
-Kun can be used for both females and males, but normally for males. A tomboyish girl, who uses "boku" instead of "watashi" would probably prefer to be called ____-kun, while other girls would prefer to be called _____-san or _____-chan.
Younger people or those who you are particularly close with (or if you are being belittling or condescending) would be called _____-chan.
It's actually better to go with the "higher" honorific when in doubt (like _____-sensei vs _____-san).
This is a really in-depth article that my Japanese teacher referred me to;
http://stason.org/TULARC/art/anime-faq/31-Please-Tell-Me-About-Japanese-Honorifics-And-Terms-Of-Add.html

Also, kisama is NEVER EVER used unless you want someone to be very angry at you. It's pretty much worse than any typical "Western" insult that I know of.