How to Talk About Family in Japanese (+BONUS Quiz)

Level Up Your Japanese with Key Family Member Vocabulary || PLUS Test Your Knowledge

Talking about family is often one of the first, most important things you study when learning a new language- and with good reason!

Family is a fantastic topic to immediately form connections with people and it’s certainly a topic you’re going to be asked about.

However, this is not to say that there aren’t any rules or customs you need to be aware of.

As we mentioned in a previous article about pronouns in Japanese, the way you address someone, especially someone older than you, is very important in Japan, even if its just family!

TOP TIP || The main thing to be aware of is that, in Japanese, when you are talking about your own family you would use different words than you would talking about someone else’s family.

Also, when you’re talking directly to members of your family, you might use something different too!

Not sure how this works? Not to worry – we’ll include explanations and examples throughout!

Let’s dive right in!

Here is our complete guide to talking about family in Japanese and keep reading for a bonus quiz at the very end!

Japanese Family Tree || Immediate Family

Japanese Family Tree || Grandma and Grandpa

Japanese Family Tree || Aunt and Uncle

Japanese Family Tree || Cousins

Japanese Family Tree || Nieces and Nephews

Japanese Family Tree || Quiz

Japanese Family Tree || FAQs

Family in Japanese || Immediate Family Members

Let’s start by looking at the different ways of saying the different family members, and then we’ll go into how to know which term of address to use in different situations.

Important: The first word for each relative is how you would refer to your own family members, the second is how you would refer to someone else’s family members.

When you are talking about someone else’s family member (let’s say, their mum) or talking to your own family member (your mum), you should use the version with the honorific suffix, i.e., さん.

BE AWARE that although the same kanji may be used (e.g. 母), the pronunciation can be different based on the context (e.g. haha vs. kaa).

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples:

（あなたの）お母さんはどこに住んでますか。
(anata no) okaasan wa doko ni sunde imasu ka.

Where does your mum live?

お母さん、私の鍵がどこにあるか知っていますか。
okaasan, watashi no kagi ga doko ni aru ka shitte imasu ka.

Mum, do you know where my keys are?

However, let’s say you are talking about your mother to a friend…

（私の）母はロンドンで住んでいます。
(watashi no) haha wa rondon de sunde imasu.

My mum lives in London.

*You’ll notice that for husband we have included three different forms of address instead of two. This is because the way you would talk to your husband is not the same way you would talk about about someone elses.

When talking to your husband, you can use 旦那さん (or even 夫, or just their name followed by さん), but when talking about someone’s husband, you should use ご主人.

Here are a couple of extra words that might be useful when talking about your immediate family:

Husband and wife = 夫婦（ふうふ）

Parents = 両親（りょうしん）

Family in Japanese || Grandma and Grandpa

As before, the first translation is used for your family members and the second translation is how you would refer to someone else’s family member.

Unlike Chinese, Japanese language does not distinguish between maternal and paternal grandparents.

Just like when you’re talking about immediate family, use the honorific versions (i.e., おばあさん / おじいさん) when you are talking to your grandma/grandpa or about somebody else’s grandparent.

ちゃん is sometimes used instead of さん which shows a sense of familiarity.

DID YOU KNOW || おばあさん and おじいさん are both also used as respectful forms of address to someone your grandparents age.

How about if you want to talk about grandchildren?

孫（まご）= grandchild

お孫さん（おまごさん）= (someone else’s) grandchild

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Basic Phrases in Japanese // Learn these phrases to make your first steps when learning Japanese. We teach you how to get by when speaking basic Japanese.

Family in Japanese || Aunt and Uncle

As with “grandma” and “grandpa,” the Japanese language does not distinguish between maternal and paternal aunts/uncles.

It does, however, distinguish according to whether the relative is older or younger than your parent! But its easier than you think…

As you can see, although the kanji used for different aunts/uncles differs, the way you pronounce them is the same… which makes it make harder to slip up, in our opinion!

One important thing to be aware of is the similarity between the word for “grandma” おばあさん and “aunt” おばさん. Take extra care when learning these!

How do you remember new vocabulary? Let us know in the comments below!

Family in Japanese || Cousins

In Japanese, people usually use いとこ to refer to their cousin. However, like with aunts and uncles, the specific kanji used can change on who you’re talking to.

従兄弟 = all male cousins

従姉妹 = all female cousins

従兄 = older male cousin

従姉 = older female cousin

従弟 = younger male cousin

従妹 = younger female cousin

REMEMBER, they are all pronounced いとこ (itoko).

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Family in Japanese || Nieces and Nephews

As you can see, talking about nieces and nephews is easy (especially compared with some of the other family members!)

Family in Japanese || Quiz

Time's up

Family in Japanese || FAQs

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